GROUPTHINK

I have long been critical of appointments committees, advisory committees or any other term for supervisory bodies.  Recent headlines, at least in some recent cases, have reinforced my opinions.  First used in the 1940s the term “woke” has resurfaced in recent years as a concept that symbolises perceived awareness of social issues and movement against injustice, inequality, and prejudice.  Over the last decade the word has morphed into being aware of supposed inequitable judicial outcomes in the courts.  For those caught in its etymological net  it can be an assessment of how much their thinking processes are of a type approved by those who call themselves "progressives".  For those including this blogger who oppose almost all opinions in line with the "w" word straight talking has become more of a risk than ever it was. What was once good humoured and/or honest workplace banter is something that now might lead to an employment tribunal declaring as prejudicial to one party or another.  

Such was the case of social worker Rachel Meade who was suspended for her gender beliefs.  She was awarded £58,000 in damages in April from Westminster city council.  This was another case where a regulating authority, Social Work England, suspended her over her belief that a person cannot change his/her sex.  She didn`t get the headlines as some more active in this controversial subject have received but serves as an example of how far into "correct" thinking those who are appointed to supervise the supervisors have sunk into a morass which to them is as rigid as in any authoritarian jurisdiction.   There is more information here. 

Rioting students indoctrinated by media misinformation have been causing havoc at universities here and elsewhere justifying their actions that it is an offense to humanity that a nation under repeated attacks with more promised in the future cannot use the necessary means to defend its people.  Using tactics seen in 1930s Germany can be excused by some as young people searching for a cause but public libraries fulfilling their duties especially to young people to offer a vast range of material to inspire, enjoy and improve their imaginations and intellectual boundaries are a different matter. Assuming the books on offer are within the legal limits of what might be offered there surely should be a natural revulsion that they should censor what might be available according to age groups, authors and subjects.  Would that that were the case.  It seems that the watchword itself a woke term is "offensive".  Librarians appear to be acting on public requests to remove books from the shelves at a rate never before experienced. Banning books is not as direct a pointer to impending totalitarianism as burning books but it is a signal that many people are exhibiting signs that consciously or otherwise they have little confidence in being part of a democratic society. A Freedom of Information request, after analysis, showed that of 204 councils 163 responded. 17 did not have information of how many titles had been removed.  11 councils revealed that 16 books were removed after a single objection from a customer, parent or librarian on the grounds of being racist, divisive, inappropriate, violent or outdated.  A full account is available from Free Speech Union.     

Those librarians were presumably interviewed by council officials or their sub contractors.  If their censorious attitudes were clear at that time why were they employed.  If they were hidden on application and from interviewer it demonstrates the incompetence of those interviewing panels in failing their required duties and those who employed them.  

It`s a couple of decades since I was part of the national workforce but I do remember when I first was being paid for my presumed expertise remarking more than once to an older male colleague in the lightest possible manner with a smile on my face, "Back in your day".  Woe betide a worker now committing that abominable spoken aggression.  An employment tribunal judge a few months ago ruled that such a statement could be unlawful.  Workplace fear seems to be commonplace for employers and employees.  Fear is the basis of all authoritarian regimes. It destroys societies but fear doesn`t begin at the point of a gun; it ends at the point of a gun.   

From my own experiences I know that many magistrates use their position to secure part time appointments to just the kind of supervisory bodies I have been fulminating against over the last few weeks. Some might be on that next step up the "great and the good" ladder insofar as they are the supervising and/or appointing authority for the supervisors.  It matters little.  Magistrates used to be individuals with minds of their own: now they are considered as unpaid employees of His Majesty`s Courts and Tribunals Service.  They might still take the judicial oath but another requirement is now required to be worthy of their place on the bench; that is groupthink. 

GUILTY OR GUILTY?

This copied blow is the relatively new hurdle for magistrates to consider if or when they appear to have stepped out of line.  It is directly copied from the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office website.

The expedited process in the Judicial Conduct Magistrates Rules 2023 enables the JCIO to advise the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice that a magistrate should be issued with formal advice or a formal warning where—

(a) there is no dispute as to the facts set out in the complaint;

(b) the alleged facts relate to conduct which the JCIO considers that the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice would be very likely to decide amounted to misconduct; and

(c) the JCIO considers that the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice would be very likely to decide that formal advice or a formal warning was the appropriate disciplinary sanction.

THE IGNORED LESSON OF ARGENTINA

It seems that only after a general election gives us a new government that the MOJ has come under the spotlight of those who report our news.  It`s not as if those heading our news media didn`t know of the perilous state of our inadequate, undisciplined, undermanned police force, our failing courts system and our Victorian age crumbling prisons; of course they knew but excepting where there was an atrocious event e.g. conviction of yet another police rapist, the live sentencing of yet another multiple murderer or a sex tape of a female prison officer offering her "services" to a convict other stories had priority. 

The Tory Party used to be known as the party to be relied upon for law `n order or the party of the hangers `n floggers: not any more, indeed not for the last 14 years.  Even in the last few years before my retirement under the "leadership" of that worthy David Cameron, magistrates were "advised" to follow  many legal twists and turns to avoid sending offenders to immediate custody despite the fact that at most 4% of those convicted were sentenced in that manner. Now it is almost universally known that given no heavenly intervention England`s  prisons within the next few weeks will not be just bursting at the seams; they will have collapsed as did the walls of Jericho.  In 2021 magistrates courts` sentencing powers were increased to 12 months custody.  Last year it was announced that the custodial limit will be reduced to the previous 6 months.  This is very strange and without explanation.  The Commons Justice Committee has questioned the motivation behind this action which is reminiscent of that grand old Duke of York.  On 17th October 2023 I posted a fuller account of the push me pull me activities of the MOJ regarding the principle of magistrates courts` custodial sentencing powers.  The current save the system antidote is to release convicted prisoners way ahead of any release date they could previously have hoped for. MOJ estimates are that 40,000 inmates would benefit leaving more rat infested cells for newcomers. These measures were requested in May but our previous prime minister vetoed that initiative for what we can all now see as pre planned removal of a likely electoral millstone around his neck.  As almost a last resort it`s believed there are plans in place to cancel the outstanding custodial time remaining in theory of convicts released early on license with the result  that individuals would be unable to be recalled if they breached licensing conditions. 

If sentencing laws remain as they are now it`s estimated that there will be a need to accommodate 100,000 prisoners in 2025.  The likelihood is that once again the argument to remove all custodial sentences at magistrates courts will become irrefutable.  And once again the tail of past incompetence  and expediency will wag the dog of  a dispirited chaotic justice system.

14 years of this nation being governed by short sighted incompetent chickens is coming home to roost.  Whilst so many of us apparently who are happy to spend hard earned ££££ on cars, holidays and the  trappings of a good life refuse to contemplate paying a small fraction of their health care costs: whilst there seems to be a very contagious virus affecting the nation`s mental health individually and collectively: whilst the state continues to fund those who choose a life of  indolence and pressures mount for the new government to make it harder for incompetents in a workforce to be sacked, this once thriving country will sink deeper  into an economic and political abyss.  The lesson of the decline and decline of Argentina should be a lesson for all.  In 1913 Argentina was among the world's ten wealthiest states per capita. Beginning in the 1930s the Argentine economy deteriorated notably. 100 years later that country is still in turmoil. Its history should be a lesson to all of us but it won`t be on the Cabinet`s reading list.  If the new PM does little else he must convince us that the euphemism of tightening our belts is a reality.  I fear that like all those who reach Number 10 he will shilly shally and attempt to waltz around the root problems which are leading us from riches to rags; to penury and worse. 

THE IGNOMINY OF CHARLES PECK [JP]

When magistrates reach retirement they are usually automatically transferred to the supplemental list.  This allows the individual to continue using the suffix after his/her name.  Personally I had no need for that personal aggrandisement even when active.The retired magistrates who continue to use those letters are, in my opinion, similar to those retired army, navy or airforce middle ranking officers who continue to use their rank. There are virtually no "benefits" or actions available for those retired JPs when they continue to use the suffix.  However there are some such people who continue to huff and puff and consider their opinions especially in the public sphere enhanced by continuing to use "JP".  On the downside they fail to note or are ignorant of the fact that the rules on misuse or publicity applying to active members of the junior judiciary, magistrates, still apply to those on that supplemental list.   

To his embarrassment  Mr Charles Peck JP, retired magistrate, has found to his cost that his desire to use his retained title in a public forum has cost him his good name amongst the few who will be aware of his misdemeanour. 

Other former colleagues should consider weighing up the benefit of telling the world they once were an active magistrate to the ignominy of being publicly castigated. 

TIME TO SCRAP APPOINTMENTS COMMITTEES?

Primus inter pares: a first among equals. For many that phrase was introduced to their lexicon by author Jeffrey Archer. It is commonly used as a description of the prime minister. In reality it is an oxymoron coddled in a euphemism as we all shall have an opportunity to see in the days ahead.  It`s not impossible to adapt the functionality of the phrase to our [and other nation`s] courts system. Once we go above the crown court is there really so much difference in the intellectual capacity of high court judges, appeal court judges and those at the top of the judicial tree on the supreme court?  I put the spotlight on the upper two courts; appeal and supreme. We, the great British public, have no way of knowing how the occupants of these positions were chosen.  For centuries governments of all shades have jealously guarded so many facets of public life that it`s been a British trademark just as cricket is supposed to have epitomised the fairness and fair play of "The British" per se.  Such illusions have long since lost their glimmer of truth.  What is to separate the intellectual capacity, suitability and capability of an appeal court judge and one of the supreme court? Does the identity of an appeal court judge who fails in her/his application to the top job remain hidden beyond the grave, the 30 year rule or some arbitrary future date. Should it remain known only to a few insiders?  Should it prevent the applicant from repeating the process?  Surgeons` performances e.g. can be audited especially nowadays with algorithms designed to include degrees of difficulty and countless variables so that hospitals can know the expertise of those they seek to  employ if the employment panel does its job effectively.  But only a select few know the identities of these panels not just in hospitals but in many various professions.  When such professionals transgress or appear to fall foul of professional or legal guidelines other panels are available to supervise the integrity of the disciplinary processes involved.  Those panels are appointed usually by members of what are commonly termed "the great and the good".  Nepotism and mutual back scratching cannot be ignored.  They are often senior civil servants or senior members of unconnected professions.  It must now be apparent that such a system has reached the end of its long and winding road.  There have been so many failures this century alone that consideration must be given to alternative ways of selection of all supervisory bodies. 

The major cover ups by supervisory bodies, committees which are supposed to investigate malfeasance in all manner of public offices and professional, trade or business organisations have reached what could be termed epidemic proportions. 

There cannot be anyone who doesn`t know of the Hillsborough disaster of 15th April 1989 nor of the successive cover ups by police and government that followed.  After numerous inquiries and legal actions it wasn`t until 6 December 2023 when the government issued its response and signed the Hillsborough Charter giving a commitment to transparency following a public tragedy.  Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg called the lack of accountability over Hillsborough "the greatest scandal of British policing of our lifetimes". 

The Chinook helicopter disaster on June 2 1994 killed 29 people – 10 RUC, nine army, five MI5, one civil servant and four crew. What happened, its circumstances and effects have been much debated. In 1995 an RAF board of inquiry ruled that it was impossible to establish the exact cause of the accident. This ruling was subsequently overturned by two senior reviewing officers who stated that the pilots were guilty of gross negligence for flying too fast and too low in thick fog. This finding proved to be controversial especially in light of irregularities and technical issues surrounding the then new Chinook HC.2 variant which were uncovered and in light of technical problems with the specific airframe involved in the weeks leading up to the crash.  A new inquiry took place in the House of Lords from September to November 2001. The findings were published on 31 January 2002 and found that the verdicts of gross negligence on the two pilots were unjustified.  In 2011 it was disclosed that at the highest level the RAF knew that the helicopter should have been grounded and official authorising forms contained false information re its airworthiness for the proposed mission.   In December 2012 the Minister for the Armed Forces Andrew Robathan confirmed such a false declaration did not constitute "wrongdoing", despite its leading directly to deaths of servicemen.  A Guardian article from May 2000 tells of the disgrace of the two officers directly involved in the cover up who presumably retired on very substantial pensions hoping that their disgusting and prolonged lying would be camouflaged by government.   

The contaminated blood scandal reaches back 50 years. Products were imported from the US and distributed to patients by the National Health Service throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Most recipients had haemophilia or had received a blood transfusion following childbirth or surgery.  As is the common factor in Great British Scandals, atrocious errors were made by those assigned to protect us; a failure of competence, but the true scandal was the cover up by those involved in supervising those who made such tragic decisions and protecting the organisation`s "good name".  The government report is available here. 

Numerous tragedies have befallen NHS patients from newborn children to centenarians owing directly to incompetence of professional employees.  However overlooking the loss of lives and personal family tragedies, once again cover ups to protect those in front of and apparently also behind the firing line were and are commonplace.  There are thousands of individuals salaried by government or proxies whose job is supposed to provide a legal, professional and moral umbrella for those at the receiving end of a trade or service.  

There cannot be any in these isles for whom the word Grenfell doesn`t conjure up a scene from hell; of terror so profound that it is primeval.  14th June 2017: a day that will live in infamy in the minds of anyone who lives in a high rise flat [with apologies to Franklin Roosevelt and 7th December 1941]. Four years later a public inquiry found that government received an estimate in the 1990s that the cost of fixing dangerous cladding was £500 million, that reports were marked for ‘limited circulation’ preventing people from learning the truth and that key information was removed or ‘entirely neutered’.  In addition the government suppressed information about the combustibility of cladding used on Lakanal House and promises to act on the Lakanal recommendations were not kept.  In an understatement on the day of the Grenfell fire, emails from a civil servant said, ‘Some of the stuff about disproportionate burdens feels uncomfortable today’.  Government inadequacy in dealing with this avoidable tragedy follows a similar pattern to every other mentioned in this post.  A full account before and after is available here .

There cannot be many who are unaware of the current inquiry into the Post Office scandal; perhaps vying for the iniquitous top place with the previously mentioned blood scandal above in its depravity.  Each witness is providing a cocktail of lies, half truths,  innuendo and forgetfulness to justify his/her statements, behaviour, actions or inactions.  

Whilst there will be myriad subjects for the incoming government`s attention there must be a place or a ministry or a department to consider why such as all the above and many others seem to be a part of the British way of doing things.  Is it not about time that the "appointments" system by "appointment or advisory committees" be scrutinised?  Surely if 12 ordinary people from the voters rolls can sit in judgement in the crown court that source of citizens could be the basis of panels to at least oversee the selection of those aforementioned supervisory bodies.  Indeed why should there be any selection at all.  Is it not time to consider that at some if not all levels British citizens vote for membership of these committees or organisations  and be trusted to apply their knowledge and common sense?

ADDENDUM 9th July 2024

A new report is highly critical of the functioning of  Nursery and Midwifery Council  (NMC).  I doubt there will ever be information about how the members of NMC are chosen and who chooses them i.e. those constituting the appointments committee.  IMHO that is every bit as significant as the incompetence and worse of the council itself.

F.O.I.//JUDICIAL RELIGION//ELECTED SUPERVISORY BODIES?

Fact 1: When I was appointed in 1998 the application form had a section asking which political party had I voted for in the previous general election. 

Fact 2: That question has long been omitted from application form

Fact 3: Religious affiliation is not an admissible necessity  

Fact 4: Local Advisory Committees have some of these statistics

Fact 5: Freedom of Information Request to release those statistics not honoured.

Re Fact 5 above please find copied below reply:-

24 October 2022

Dear Ms 

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request – 220927003

Thank you for your request dated 27 September 2022 in which you asked for the following

information from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ):

Dear Advisory Committee on Justices of the Peace for London,

1.Please publish any material received from any other relevant authority relating to

the appointment criteria for those of black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.

2. How many JPs have been appointed in the last five years for which statistics are

available?

3. How many of of those re 2. above were of BAME identification?

4. How many of those re 2. above considered themselves Muslim on application?

Your request has been handled under the FOIA.

The MoJ does not hold any information in the scope of your request. This is because the

local Advisory Committees of Justices of the Peace are separate public authorities for

purposes of the FOIA. The MoJ may provide some services, such the provision of IT; but in

terms of recruitment (the subject of your enquiry) a Committee is its own public authority.

The MoJ (including HM Courts and Tribunal Services, which is an executive agency of the

MoJ) cannot answer for a Committee in this regard.

On November 21st 2022 an appeal against the refusal was confirmed.

On 22nd March 2023 there was an F.O.I. request as follows copied below: It seems that between November 2022 and March 2023 MOJ removed copy compliant facility of replies. This has necessitated using other publicly available means to paste relevant information:

So far so good or so it appears but further on there is this again copied below:-

Note the last two words above; "future publication". The final extract below from the reply is again by necessity a JPG from publicly available information.  The link highlighted is unavailable. 

The only conclusion is that the MOJ does not want we, the public, to know the religion if any of those who sit in judgement upon us. Richard Page ex JP was sacked for expressing his judicial opinion was based on his Christian beliefs. Until the early years of this century few of those involved in any way with the religious component of those on the bench high or low paid much attention to whether they worshipped a deity or not.  But  in 2024 a week before an election and eight months since an atrocity which has exposed the underlying hatred of Jews by many Muslims and the subsequent ouvert identity politics involving Muslims being persuaded by their peers and Imams to vote according to their preferred candidates` positions on the war against Hamas things are very different. The second most senior magistrate in the country, a Muslim,  has been subject to a formal warning of misconduct for his social media activities liable to indicate his partisan (Islamic) approach to justice. 

As readers will be aware, judges in USA are elected; the public has virtually the contenders` biographies and legal histories upon which to make a choice.  In this country such people are appointed by "the great and the good".  However we know to our shame and cost that supervisory bodies of all manner of industries and professions have been failing for decades with only the most heinous cases ever hitting the headlines Grenfell, Hillsborough and in the worst maternity scandal in the history of the NHS over two decades at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust hundreds of babies were left brain damaged or dead. Bereaved mothers were blamed for the deaths of their babies.  The Post Office and Blood scandals have yet to reach their public climax. Last week the Chief Constable of Northamptonshire was exposed as a liar and fraud in the qualifications he had submitted prior to his appointment.   Northamptonshire Police Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone, who was voted in to replace disgraced Stephen Mold – the man who oversaw the appointment of Mr Adderley – promised residents it wouldn’t happen again.  But this malfunction has happened in previous cases of Chief Constables being sacked. 

To conclude this post I leave readers with the question of whether in the light of current and historic circumstances supervisory bodies and those responsible for the appointment of the most senior responsible positions in society would do their jobs much more efficiently if they were accountable to being voted in or out by those over whom they have such onerous responsibilities. 

J.P. aka JERIMIAH OF THE PESSIMISTS

About six or seven years after my appointment my disillusionment with the Magistrates Association became such that I let my membership to that organisation lapse.  My grievances were that it purported to be representative of magistrates but could rarely amass more than 80% membership from those eligible but more to the point did everything possible to keep that knowledge private and within a small number of those privileged to know the reality.  That silent coterie usually included those next in line for appointments with the knowledge of a gong for the chairman a dead certainty.  In a personal capacity I had offered suggestions for utilising the abilities of members to further the efficiency of the organisation.  Some months later that approach was carried forward as if it were the brainchild of those at the top table.  A forum set up by a member in the early 2000s where members could exchange ideas and opinions was taken over by the M.A. but closed down some months later.  Dissent had to be controlled and terminated.  As a contributor to Twitter X I have been blocked by the M.A.  So it is with some surprise that today I have stumbled across a statement from said organisation with which I can find no objection.  It is available  here.  The writer might be blowing in the wind with a wish list that is highly unlikely to be any more than that but at least current deficits from magistrates` points of view are in the public eye. 

All too often it seems that what might be termed minor altercations get out of hand and one party swings a punch at another. Sadly, if only occasionally, that single punch can and has caused serious injury or death.  Over the years calls have been made to place the tragedy of single punch death as a stand alone offence. A recent incident is a sad example. However,  An interesting article from a publication I`ve never heard of is enlightening. 

Recently I attended the West End production of Les Miserables being seated just a few rows from the orchestra.  Unknown to me self righteous protesters from Just Stop Oil on the day after my visit to the show had been found guilty of causing criminal damage and aggravated trespass last September.  My point today is posing the question as to when such activities develop from so called "activism" to fascism.   

There can be few reading this who are unaware that the Lord Chancellor recently notified sentencers that they should keep in mind that the prisons are literally overflowing with offenders and there is no spare capacity.  If that were akin to the boy crying "wolf" then be assured there really is a wolf this time. For what other reason could this offender not be sentenced to immediate custody? 

Shortly after July 4th we will have a new government.  It is also not unlikely that we will have as an MP a man who probably has had more influence from outside Westminster on major government decisions and activities than many cabinet ministers.  But can any reader honestly believe that whilst we live in hope our once honoured and revered justice system will not fall further into decline?   

Just call me J for Jerimiah of the P for Pessimists.   

IT was THE BEST OF TIMES//NOW IT is THE WORST OF TIMES

I`m old enough to remember occasionally reading in newspapers of the abject state of the judicial system in India where thousands of untried defendants were languishing in ancient prisons built during the Raj unlikely to have their day in court not just for many months but for many years.   The daily average number of adults in prison custody in England and Wales in 1974 was 26,234. This figure represents 78 adults per 100,000 in the population. In April 2024, the prisoner population of England and Wales stood at 87,481 while the operating capacity of prisons was 88.889. In 2022 there were 159 per 100,000.  These numbers are just a snapshot at the hard end of our justice system. But what of the other end?

Governments and legal sources with their in built biases have for generations told the British public that their legal and justice system is a system of which they cannot be too proud: that it has been exported to many countries mainly from the days of the Empire for which these now independent nations are forever grateful.  We are also told not just that the system is a glowing testament to the British concept of "fair play and fairness" but that the practitioners within that system can hold their heads up high with pride in their probity and efficiency.  Tell that to the people of Hong Kong (in a whisper behind closed doors) and they would laugh and cry simultaneously if they were able as confusing thoughts and emotions compete with each other in a manner with which the brain cannot cope.  They would cry at the naivety of the British government when it handed the colony back to China according to the terms of the agreement signed in 1898 when Britain obtained a 99-year lease for the New Territories.  They would laugh at the thought that amongst some others, bigwigs of the British judiciary since 1997 have been presiding over Chinese imposed legislation in Chinese courts over Hong Kong citizens accused of transgressing that Chinese legislation; legislation which is designed to stifle any aspect of what our society terms free speech.  Information of these former judges from the highest ranks of British judiciary was first posted  here 16th March 2021.  There was an update on 8th March 2022.  

In the last few days without any major announcement  former Canadian Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin and UK judges Lord Jonathan Sumption and Lord Lawrence Collins have resigned from Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal.  What has taken them so long to leave the posts which any reasonably minded person could see was a fig leaf to cover the totalitarian nature of the Chinese so called government which was following the processes of similar dictatorships of the modern era?  

At all levels owing to financial starvation since 2010 and an unashamed arrogance of many practitioners the legal system is floundering where it matters; at the lower end of the spectrum whilst a relatively few exorbitantly overpaid  solicitors and barristers snaffle millions from representing Russian oligarchs trying to keep their ill gotten billions and ridding themselves of their trophy wives.  And there are many others with pockets filled with gold from the Arabic speaking world to keep busy other experts in Chancery Lane in exchange for $$$$$ Roubles or Rials.  

And then we have The Criminal Cases Review Commission; supposedly the last stop in the journey of ensuring justice has been done.  This was a subject posted here 5th September 2023.   Since then the Post Office scandal has had some light shone upon those lawyers within the company who failed in their obligations to their profession and to  judges who were reticent in exercising their powers of intervention when such intervention would likely have saved the heartache to which many postmasters were brutally subjected.  

The case of Andrew Malkinson is perhaps the most telling of miscarriages of justice this century.  Every professional involved must share some blame for his being in the Kafkaesque situation of being kept in prison despite evidence available to throw doubt on his conviction because he refused to admit his "guilt".  Perhaps those involved in this disgraceful process hadn`t read "The Trial".   

The iniquities of the Single Justice Procedure have been exposed here many times and don`t need to be repeated. The failure of judges to sentence appropriately for knife crime, the "shoplifters go free" policy set down by MOJ, the failure of the Metropolitan Police in particular to clamp down hard on racist abuse during supposedly peaceful but intimidating  marches and the aforementioned  sentencing to suit prison accommodation available are just some of the factors which are now the accepted norm in our society.  

It would take the proverbial optimist high on whatever favourite substance addled his/her brain to think any future government would be able to turn around this sorry state of affairs.  Meanwhile an ever increasing minority would like to impose sharia law on this country and are beginning to exercise their electoral muscle to this effect.  

Salam alaikum.

ADDENDUM 14.00 11th June 2024

Latest update on the Post Office Inquiry courtesy of the Law Society Gazette

ADDENDUM 14.00 18th June 2024 courtesy of the  LawSocietyGazette 

DOES 2024 = 1984?

Having a chat recently over a bottle of a 12 year old Glenlivet with some friends about when something is woke or not woke I happened to mention that on one occasion in the retiring room I commented to a colleague with whom I was on a level just slightly more informal than "just a colleague" that her outfit of red jacket and black skirt was a colourful combination which in the insect world would indicate that "I am poison or I can sting so don`t try to eat me."  She was amused and promised not to bite.  

With our common interest we tried to get together once or perhaps twice a year.  There were six of us of whom two were female one under 40 and the other a retiree like myself.  One male was also retired and the other two were I suppose yet to hit 40. Their reactions to my light hearted remark were unsurprising.  The older woman smiled and agreed entirely with my frivolity and confessed that in her younger days she had a section of her wardrobe to contain her "power outfits" amongst which when she still had a figure to flaunt would usually be a black skirt to be worn with a red or yellow top or jacket. Our other female attendee was smiling rather sardonically at this and said if she had been spoken to like that at her place of work a complaint to her HR manager would have been made at the speed of light.  Of my three male imbibing companions my contemporary snorted that the world if it hasn`t gone mad was at the entrance to the asylum. The other two thought in the nicest possible way that we were a bunch of fogeys.  I suppose that in microcosm they were correct which brings me to the reality of what happens when innocent remarks in some circumstances are as divorced from reality as are members of the Flat Earth Society.  

The employment tribunal case of Yuanyuan Zhang is interesting owing to its focal point being the use of the term frumpy to describe a woman`s appearance.  The tribunal judge is quoted as saying, "such a comment was unwanted comment related to sex".  Owing to her claim being time barred it was rejected.  A report is available  here. 

With millions of Britons proudly hosting names from their or their ancestors` homeland be it Afghanistan or Zambia or all places in between it`s unsurprising that many good hearted English people notorious for lacking linguistic abilities sometimes struggle in that department.  Indeed a now deceased member of my family solved that issue by asking associates to call him Davy.  It seems, however, that common sense and simple mutual respect are increasingly rare commodities nowadays.  In fact the former was a requirement when I was appointed to the bench but went missing about ten years later.  Viveak Taneja was left "angry and upset" when Dana Davies incorrectly called him "Vikesh".  He was sacked as an area sales manager and subsequently was awarded over £9,000 when the tribunal judge ruled that his dignity had been violated. There is a very full report here.  

There is no doubt that every generation since flint was the most precious of stones thinks that the succeeding generation is lacking in some skills or another. However the apparent current obsession with offence being deconstructed to mean any tiny detail of criticism which reaches the eyes or ears vaguely in the direction of a woke receptive individual is now being used for social, financial or political gain.  Until July 4th the manufactured and meaningless word islamophobia is going to be heard many times daily when observers note the identity politics being pursued in some constituencies.  Perhaps we are fortunate that woke is still relatively benign but then so was Das Kapital in 14 September 1867 or Mein Kampf in 18 July 1925.  

When the word genocide is being deliberately misused to foster hate and truth is being seen to be falsehood we truly are nearing the reality of George Orwell`s nightmare. Does  2024 = 1984?  Perhaps there is still hope for old fogeys and the rest of the population. 

CROWN COURT APPEALS

 

The above is an extract from 10 years statistics on appeals to the crown court against verdict and sentence.  I am not a statistician and leave it to others who might explore some numbers or trends.  However a glance tells us that from 2017 there was a marked change in absolute numbers.  The figures for 2020-2022 are those of the period in which the epidemic skewed statistics for myriad organisations.  It is noteworthy in my opinion to look at the years 2014 and 2019.  In the former there was a total of 11,214 appeals at crown court of which 5,731 were against verdict. 2,529 of those were allowed.  Against sentence there were 4,816 with 2,222 being successful.  In 2019 there was a total of 7,925 appeals at crown court of which 3,863 were against verdict. 1,730 of those were allowed.  Against sentence there were 3,435 with 1,705 being successful.  Figures for 2023 are total of 5,803 appeals at crown court of which 2,614 were against verdict. 1,088 of those were allowed.  Against sentence there were 2,647 with 1,272 being successful.  Considering that there are 150 magistrates courts in England and Wales on average only 39 appeals were registered  per court for the year 2023.  Over a million cases are expected annual at magistrates courts.  At the end of September 2023 there were 352,945 outstanding cases at the magistrates' courts. 

The numbers of appeals have reduced.  It could be argued that that is an indication of reduced prosecutions.  It could be argued that the Single Justice Procedure is antagonistic to appealing.  It could be argued that it`s an indication that magistrates courts are becoming more efficient in reaching verdicts and sentences.  It could be argued that fewer able offenders are equipped one way or another to go through the appeals process.  What, in my opinion, is unarguable is that much more research into the functioning of magistrates courts is necessary; e.g. the variations, if any, in the outcomes between lay benches and District Judges(MC) and the frequency of presiding magistrates advising offenders of their right to appeal  to name but two.  

It seems unlikely that the decline in our justice system  since 2010 will be reversed in the coming five years.  Indeed it is now obvious that that decline is just symptomatic in the decline of our society as a whole from one where "things can only get better" to one of "we`re doing the best we can under the circumstances".  Result..........Pessimists 1: Optimists 0. 

THE CYCLE OF JUSTICE

One of the joys of my life was for my 15th birthday the present from my parents of a brand spanking new red and white Raleigh touring bicycle having 3 speed sturmey archer gear shifter, white wall tyres, a foldaway stand, two mirrors and the ubiquitous bell to warn off impending collisions with pedestrians aimlessly crossing my path. The only missing accessory was a dynamo powered light set owing to my parents` insistence that I didn`t go anywhere after dark.  That sensation of freedom induced by those two wheels was an elixir of exuberance repeated when four years later I took possession of another red and white two wheeled transporter; a 125cc Lambretta scooter.  My first car purchased as my student days ended was the final adrenalin inducing vehicle which gave me a similar "high" as did that bike years earlier.  As a car owning pensioner in my latter years living in an ordinary suburban environment I wouldn`t now cycle more than half a mile from my house at any price even if I had the most efficient electric bike there is to be bought.  I rate the risk of injury too high; paranoid perhaps but a not uncommon feeling amongst many.  

Perhaps that brief history explains why I have been so interested in the sad case of Auriol Grey.   Literally the trials and tribulations following those events have now been laid bare for all to see. And as if by Zeus in his Olympus hideaway throwing a bolt of lightening to illuminate the law and its perversity another event with a cyclist at its centre has brought into view questions about the Crown Prosecution Service and its capacity to lose public confidence in its ability to do the job we expect.  So many public bodies have been seen to fail with the cover ups of these failings exposing systemic government failures to punish those personnel responsible i.e. failure of the CPS and police to pursue wrong doers within parameters that must have been whispered by the NHS, Home Office and Ministry of Justice. The latest death by bike was that of Hilda Griffiths 81, knocked down in Regents Park by Brian Fitzgerald cycling at 30MPH.  Rarely do "normal" cyclists even approach such a speed which is equal to travelling 44 feet per second.  Law is available which if applied could have brought the director  of an international bank to trial.  There is  "Causing Bodily Harm by wanton or furious driving."  This 1861 Act is still in use today.  "Whosoever, having the charge of any carriage or vehicle, shall by wanton or furious driving or racing, or other wilful misconduct, or by wilful neglect, do or cause to be done any bodily harm to any person whatsoever, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and being convicted thereof shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years ..."   During my period as a magistrate I was in the middle chair on an occasion when this Act was used successfully to prosecute the drunken driver of a mobility scooter who knocked down a pedestrian on the pavement.  The 1988 Road Traffic Act is available to the CPS.  My question is why the police did not charge under the most appropriate section.  Was it that the "accused" was likely to be a person of wealth and high social standing with ample resources financial and professional at his disposal?  

There is no doubt that from virtually every angle or viewpoint the justice system in this country from arrest to Z beds in prison cells is approaching a point not just of no return but a point where the public has no faith in its being fit for purpose. When that collapse happens it is a signal that society itself is at a point of disintegration.  Identity politics is the term that`s been given to the divisions in the country centred on racial or ethnic group preferences.  This whole topic has become an industry as this style guide from Bristol University illustrates.  

   

We are in a situation where the answer to the questions, "What is British" or "What does it mean to be British" or "What are the five most typical British values" are no longer able to be rolled off the tongue without some deep thinking.  There are those amongst us whose desire is to diminish any sense at all of Britishness. Those who denounce patriotism for that is what Britishness is at its core are bad mouthed as being racist or worse.  It is to be hoped that these increasingly widening cracks in society can be unified but failing an alien invasion from the Andromeda Nebula Ah hae ma doots as the separates north of Hadrian`s Wall would say.  

TO BE WELSH OR NOT TO BE WELSH? THAT IS THE QUESTION

I suppose language can be likened to glue; depending on its formula and purpose it binds together disparate substances to form in effect a new or enhanced object with a new or enhanced purpose.  In any population, society, tribe, grouping, sect or family language can also be as divisive as the English Channel dividing England from the European continent.  

Language can divide or unite nations.  Belgium is an artificial construct between original Dutch speakers and French speakers where politics is forever treading a tightrope between two proud communities.  The tragedy of Ukraine has a basis in geographical separation of language between the east and west of the country. When early Zionists in the 19th century began buying land in Ottoman controlled Palestine they were communicating with the Jews and Arabs living there in European languages as well as Arabic and Hebrew.  As time went on the early pioneers of increased Jewish immigration realised that to increase the cohesiveness of a diverse people Hebrew would be imposed as the target national language of a future nation and thus a language that had been in common use until two thousand  years ago but had diminishing numbers of speakers mainly for religious purposes was re-born in a modern form alongside Arabic as the national languages of the modern State of Israel.

Before the Roman invasion the Brittonic language was the lingua franca in what is now Great Britain south of the Firth of Forth.  The Romans left their 400 year occupation having bequeathed to future generations the Latin language which has been a foundation stone of modern English. Similarly after 1066 Norman French was the predominant language of the English nobility until English, derived from invaders between the 5th and 7th centuries, was given official status by the Pleading in English Act 1362.  That act stated that pleas in Courts had to be held in English although written accounts were still in Latin. English became the official language in England during the reign of King Henry V.

Researchers have shown that Cornish, Scottish Gaelic, Irish, Manx and Welsh belong to the Celtic branch of Indo-European. Celtic, in turn, divides into two distinct subgroups: P-Celtic (or Brythonic) and Q-Celtic (or Goidelic). Cornish and Welsh are P-Celtic languages, whilst Scottish Gaelic, Irish and Manx are Q-Celtic languages.  Nationalism thrives as a driving force for populist political philosophy and language is part of that force.  Ireland is a prime example where many Catholics in Northern Ireland were encouraged by their co-religionists over the border to learn Gaelic.  The SNP legislated for road signs in Scotland to be in Scottish Gaelic as well as English. Many government and other official documents are now published in Welsh alongside English.  The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 is the legislation that created the Welsh language standards. It is a legally binding framework that all public organisations in Wales must follow to make sure that the Welsh language is treated no less favourably than English.  All children in Wales have to learn Welsh up until they are 16. Details of language provision is available here.  

A private parking company with a dubious reputation has recently won an action against a Welsh speaker for not publishing its documents in Welsh.  With both Scots and Welsh assemblies originally offered in an attempt to assuage nationalistic murmurings beginning to be aroused 50 years ago they are now being seen by their proponents as a springboard, especially in Scotland, for complete independence.  Such division would be a catastrophe for this United Kingdom but a triumph for those who seek to increase European division both within and without its geographic boundaries.  The General Elections both in this country, Europe and USA might answer the question as to whether a certain Mr V. Putin has succeeded with his disruptive aspirations aided by social media acolytes. 

Language was, is and always will be a uniter or disuniter of societies.  Ours is no exception.  The very term "woke" is a familiar example. Lewis Carroll and George Orwell each in his own way owed much of their literary status to the effects of understanding or misunderstanding the meaning of words.   

IT IS BROKE AND THEY WON`T FIX IT

There`s an old adage, "if it ain`t broke don`t fix it."  Whilst it sounds reasonable advice, on a second reading it becomes obvious that if it is followed there must be preparation for the breakdown which results.  If machinery is allowed to function without maintenance seemingly in fine operating condition it will be a matter of when not if it fails.  Owners of vehicles, bicycles, guns, hydro electric schemes, oil tankers; indeed there are very few man made objects with moving parts  which don`t require inspection and careful attention to allow them to function at maximum capacity for maximum efficiency over a maximum lifetime.   When it comes to organisations similar considerations should apply but they don`t. 

It seems almost monthly that we read of supervisory organisations in many spheres of our lives which have failed in their primary functions of ensuring that those organisations over which they have the power to inspect, impose, change or challenge existing forms of behaviour, supervision, rules or recommendations have failed with the cost of such failure being the ruin of human lives.  We are conditioned to bland statements from such entities when their failings are made public.  Only those with a professional or personal insight into such situations are truly aware of what horror stories lie behind each such announcement.  Very often those individuals go public with their informed comments only when they are retired secure in the knowledge that their pensions are safe.  Ex senior police officers, judges and medical staff are amongst the most prominent but rarely are their wise words more than just a few days` headlines. Within our emasculated and discredited justice system I would opine that the most heinous miscarriages of justice occur at the lowliest courts in the system; the magistrates courts. 

Earlier this century the success rates for appeal of verdicts charged with either way offences  at magistrates courts was as in the table below.

Appeals against sentence or verdict at magistrates courts have consistently been around 45% successful in the following decade. 

Current estimates are that around 24% of all appeals to the crown court are successful.  With the introduction of the Single Justice Procedure in 2015 it might be thought surprising that successful appeals have not shown a marked increase.  It is hard perhaps to stomach in these egalitarian times but only a relatively small percentage of guilty defendants have the means to hire a lawyer to represent them at an appeal before a judge and two magistrates or alternatively the time and intellect to be litigants in person.  

It is within the magistrates courts that the vast majority of offenders is faced with the power of the judicial system; a system which is often stacked against them because the old notion of a "level playing field" or "equality of arms" is but a historical memory.  Returning to my theme, the magistrates courts system is indeed "broke"; broken by deliberate government action and inaction.  This is in some ways similar to the result of matter colliding with  anti- matter which I believe results in the constituent particles destroying each other with a huge energy release. Depending on the colliding particles not only is there a great energy release, but new, different particles may also be produced (such as neutrinos and various flavours of quark.  For matter and anti matter substitute the rights of the individual and the power of the state. The released substances of the collision might be listed as victims` rights, equivocal guilty pleas, perverse verdicts, prisoner suicides, decision making in the near future by A.I., increased wrongful convictions, premature releases and many more. 

If it`s not too late to "service" the damaged courts system and attempt a "fix" there must be a political will which just does not exist.  I fear that lay magistrates might soon be losing my preference as the best way of handling a million plus summary matters every year.  It has become newsworthy that some of the recent local election results in certain areas have come about as a result of foreign practices being employed by immigrant communities. With the numbers of Muslim magistrates or their affiliations being kept secret by the MOJ I fear that political influences could be added to the already undertrained recent cohorts of those hastily added to the bench as a result of deliberate mismanagement.  Urgent consideration should be given to the Presiding Judge directing that all those found guilty be instructed that they have a right to appeal verdict and/or sentence and practical efforts eg leaflets on that process, be handed out in the courts.  As was the case last century applicants to the bench should be obliged to state their political allegiance(s).  Limits of eg 20 years service should be imposed upon magistrates.  Defendants must lose the right in either way offences to choose crown court trial. Consideration must be given to insist that all trials should be presided over by a District Judge [MC] with two magistrate wingers and/or all cases where custody is an option.  

However simple my wish list the images in my crystal ball will remain just that.  The justice  system is broken for all of us apart from oligarchs and their wives fighting over the results of their divorces and the media trying to prise open government`s secret files.  

It is broke and "they" won`t fix it.