ASYLUM, RUNNING,LUNATICS

It seems that whilst Manchester Constabulary is chasing around looking for a man with a cucumber down his lycra shorts [The Justice of the Peace Blog January 5th] its detectives are arsing about and unable to deliver CCTV evidence on time, as instructed,  to the crown court.  Whilst this gross inefficiency merits reporting the underlying problem is nationwide in the lower courts also.  Constabularies are forced to reduce the number of warranted officers and so outsource too many jobs.........it seems at London triple murder this week outsourced personel were unable to dig garden when people went missing owing possibly to lack of funding!  Similar problems exist in the social services and NHS.  Scrapping Trident won`t help but a more efficient tax system for multinationals wouldn`t be a bad idea nor would it do any harm to syphon off more money from banks.

If the lunatics are not yet running the asylum they`re certainly knocking on the door.

J.P.s PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS REPRIMANDED

The last month of the year brought the usual reprimands and sackings of Justices of the Peace from the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office.  Only two J.P.s were dismissed for failing to meet the minimum sitting requirements. This is not exceptional.  Once again a sleepy magistrate was reported to the beaks who issued him with a reprimand. Of slightly more concern is the case of Mr Chrys Perera JP and Mr Shaf Ahmed JP.  This seems to border into intrusion where the powers that be have indicated that in and around our courtrooms is the most political correct area of our country.  It can only be speculation about the content of the reported conversation.  It begs the question as to where do the supposed private and confidential opinions of magistrates justify such  disapproval.  Presumably the offending words were uttered within the confines of the court building but if they were overheard by a clerical court worker in the car park would the two men have still been subject to disciplinary action?  When does political or social positioning become untenable for a magistrate?  Cases like this one and it`s not that unusual, raise considerable unease for the wider implications. The sacking of Mr Jonathan Sandford now a former JP is much more straightforward.  One can only raise an eyebrow or two at his stupidity. 

In my post of 20th July 2015 regarding magistrates brought before the JCIO  I wrote, "In 2012 14 J.P.s were involved.  Of these 6 were removed by reason of being low sitters and therefore not fulfilling their obligations when appointed. 8 were  removed from the magistracy.  Notably there were none who were merely given "advice" as to their conduct or were reprimanded.  Similar numbers are recorded for 2013.  7 were sacked for not meeting the minimum sitting requirements and 3 were removed for other reasons. Once again there were no complaints that resulted in non dismissal decisions.  All that changed in 2014.  There were 40 J.P.s investigated of whom 7 were sacked for low sitting and a similar number was given "advice" as to conduct.  The major change was that 24 were reprimanded over their conduct which seems largely to have been misplaced comments usually within the court or retiring room". 

From the above figures alone there are now two conclusions:- either J.P.s are, in increasing numbers, using language which is deemed unacceptable or there are more J.P.s than ever who are intolerant of language that has been previously deemed as normal.  There is however the get out of jail conclusion that language that has always been acceptable and still is acceptable to the majority is unacceptable to a vociferous minority.  This is of particular interest considering the subject of my post yesterday. Readers of course will draw their own conclusions. 

BEING OFFENSIVE IS NOT ILLEGAL

"Sections 5(1) and 6(4) of the Public Order Act 1986 have been amended by section 57 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013. This amendment removes the word 'insulting' from the two sections with effect from 1 February 2014. The section 5(3) defences to this offence will remain the same. The effect of the amendment is that the "insulting" limb is also removed from the racially or religiously aggravated version of the section 5 Public Order Act offence (i.e. the offence contrary to section 31(1)(c) Crime and Disorder Act 1998)."

The opening paragraph of Section 5 of the Public Order Act as written in Crown Prosecution Service guidelines is as above.  The change was long overdue. The original inclusion of "insulting" was an awful miscalculation if one takes a benevolent view of government or a further attempt to erode free expression if one is of a cynical disposition. There is not a Justice of the Peace in this country who has not racked his/her conscience on S.5 matters brought before them prior to the amendment.  I personally argued against conviction on many such cases in defiance of legal advisors who were too timid to make a legal case against the letter of the law.  I suppose it all goes down to whether in extremis one fights for the letter of the law or its spirit.  I suppose I am a spirit man.

However it was under  section 127(1)(a) and section 127(1)(b) of the Communications Act 2003 that on Monday at Belfast Magistrates` Court a Protestant evangelical preacher was tried before a District Judge  for words uttered to a congregation in May 2014.  The actual sermon can be accessed here on youtube.  There are subtle differences in the media reports of his acquittal.  The Irish Times gives reference to some of the actual remarks made; the BBC does not.  The Belfast Telegraph makes great reference to freedom of speech but also without quoting any actual words of the accused.

There is no doubt in my very humble atheistic  opinion that the spokesmen of supposed representative Muslim organisations in response to recent current events are somewhat circumspect in their remarks rarely making their arguments without reference to their perceived view of their being victims of islamophobia. This is in contrast to much of what is said and published by the Quilliam Foundation.  Perhaps living as a minority in a country with Judeo Christian foundations which is relatively unusual for a large Muslim population is proving difficult for some followers of the Prophet.  It can only be hoped that the next generation will be able to practise their faith but also be able to adapt to what has taken a thousand years for the concept of Britishness to develop from Ancient Britons, Picts, Romans, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Normans, Huguenots, Irish, Jews and laterally millions of incomers from Asia, Africa and Europe. 

Addendum

UK Criminal Law Blog has a useful legal analysis

LIBIDO RAISES MANHUNT IN MANCHESTER

It is delightful that this, my first post in a new year, concerns Manchester Police who seem to have more controversies per head than even the Met.  There are some human functions which owing to their nervous pathways produce involuntary reactions or those over which there is minimal control.  Vomiting, sneezing with the accompanying blink and coughing come to mind in the former category with the last producing  a reflex to spit;  an offence in a public place in some boroughs.  There is another reflex known to both sexes and experienced by the male of the species.  Especially in teenagers and young men sexual arousal can be without pattern and often without a nearby actual object of desire virtual or real. In a public place does an obvious erection indicate a propensity to commit sexual assault?  The aforementioned constabulary seems to think so. Has the world gone mad?  Perhaps I should rephrase.......has the victim says so, so it must be concept gone beyond the point of no return?  After all,  often it is the so called victim who determines racial or religious aggravation or just simple name calling by those with more common sense.  

Authority in this country is becoming a laughing stock. We are law breakers for the most inane reasons and yet can`t keep track of would be terrorists who would blow us and our way of life away.  

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE NEED NOT BE DOMESTIC OR VIOLENT

"Domestic abuse" is not a crime; assault is. We have been promised a dedicated law on DV but that hasn`t happened yet.  Not really surprising since the Ministry doesn`t keep magistrates` courts conviction statistics of assault occasioning DV despite all the paper work. And Freedom of Information request did not help....
 

			Justice Statistics Analytical Services Ministry of Justice London Email: xxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xxx.xx www.justice.gov.uk
			2015

Freedom of Information Request

Dear

Thank you for your email of xxxxxxxx 2015, in which you asked for the following information from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ):

Please inform me of the numbers of those charged with assault under the domestic violence protocols at magistrates courts in England and Wales and acquitted at trial  for last five years for which figures are available.  Please also supply numbers of acquittals as above as percentage of those charged.  If possible also supply the reasons for acquittals eg cracked or ineffective trials, vacated trials

Your request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

I am afraid that I am not able to confirm whether the Ministry of Justice holds the information you have requested. On this occasion, the cost of determining whether we hold the information would exceed the limit set by the Freedom of Information Act and, as a result, I am afraid will not be taking your request further. In this letter I explain why that is the case and I also provide you with some advice as to how you could refine your request so that we may be able to answer it. 

The law allows us to decline to answer requests under FOIA when we estimate that it would cost us more than £600 (equivalent to 3½ working days’ worth of work, calculated at £25 per hour) to confirm whether the department holds the information requested.

It may help if I explain that the MoJ Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. This database holds information on offences provided by the statutes under which proceedings are brought but not all the specific circumstances of each case. It is not possible to separately identify from centrally held data the relationship between victim and defendant; hence it is not possible to separately identify which offences proceeded against at magistrates’ courts involving assault   between adults constituted a domestic violence offence. This detailed information is not reported to Justice Statistics Analytical Services due to their size and complexity.

In this instance, to determine if all of the information requested is held, we would be required to contact all the courts in England and Wales and ask them to search individual case files for all offences involving assault between adults to establish the relationship between the victim and defendant, in order to determine whether the offence constituted a domestic violence offence. To assess whether we collect and can collate the information you require, on the scale that you have requested, would therefore exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ set out in section 12(2) of the FOIA. 

You can find out more about Section 12(2) by reading the extract from the Act and some guidance points we consider when applying this exemption, attached at the end of this letter.

You can also find more information by reading the full text of the Act, available at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/12 and further guidance http://www.justice.gov.uk/information-access-rights/foi-guidance-for-practitioners/exemptions-guidance

Whilst you could narrow the scope of your request in order to try and bring it within the cost limit, for example by requesting information for a particular magistrates’ court, I would like to take this opportunity to advise you that it is very likely that any information that may be held which would determine whether an offence constituted domestic abuse may be exempt from disclosure under the FOIA under the terms of Section 32 (Court Records). Therefore it is likely that any subsequent narrowed request asking for domestic violence conviction rates or statistics could be refused under Section 32.

I am sorry that on this occasion I have not been able to answer your request. You have the right to appeal our decision if you think it is incorrect. Details can be found in the ‘How to Appeal’ section attached at the end of this letter.

Disclosure Log

​

You can also view information that the Ministry of Justice has disclosed in response to previous Freedom of Information requests. Responses are anonymised and published on our on-line disclosure log which can be found on the MoJ website:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/information-access-rights/foi-requests/latest-moj-disclosure-log

​

The published information is categorised by subject area and in alphabetical order.

Yours sincerely

Giovanni Barbuti

Justice Statistics Analytical Services

Ministry of Justice

But it seems that has not stopped the law makers from introducing more categories of DV enforceable from today.  Better stop telling the wife to do the washing up.

I`m off now for a real Hogmanay.  Best wishes to all for a don`t drink  or use a mobile phone when driving new year.

PROBLEM SOLVING COURTS AND FURTHER THOUGHTS

"British magistrates are, in principle, in favour of the “problem-solving” initiative [my highlight] but caution that it should not result in cases that “need to go to court” avoiding trial. Malcolm Richardson, chairman of the Magistrates Association which represents magistrates in England and Wales, said: “We believe problem-solving approaches show great potential, especially in addressing the causes of offending behaviour with a view to stopping reoffending."

The above is a quote by Malcolm Richardson chairman of the Magistrates Association commenting on another proposal from America. From which  analysis of magistrates` opinions he can make such assertions I know not.  On 7th December I posted critical comments on this so called initiative from the USA.  Whilst I am a great admirer of that nation and its people, apart from wispy haired billionaires with mouths wider than the Grand Canyon, the ever admiring justice ministers who return from its shores with great new ideas are a source of mystery to me.  Prisons, sentencing, probation etc have all been supposedly informed by practices in America. It would appear that Michael Gove and his advisors have been hypnotised by yet another American justice process.  Perhaps the esteemed transatlantic visitor does not realise that our 19,000 magistrates are volunteers required to offer only 26 half days yearly spread over adult, youth and family court.  I am not the only J.P. past or present who considers that, particularly for court chairmen, that requirement is too few to attain and retain competence in the management of a court. Of more import, however, is the proposed function itself.  To become enhanced social workers instead of finders of fact and sentencers would be a change too many for many existing and aspiring Justices of the Peace.   Indeed such a fundamental change in our courtrooms would lead to yet more Deputy District Judges (M.C.) being appointed and a further diminution of magistrates` functions.


Once again magistrates are in danger of being led by the nose to surrender their primary function; to manage the court, to be finders of fact and to sentence the offender when required.

CHRISTMAS MUSINGS

Before settling down to a few days indulgence a couple of news items recently caught my attention.  This one concerning the antics of a failed asylum seeker is a perfect example of our failed "immigration" control organisation.  It feeds arguments over the European Court of Human Rights and its replacement by a similar court responsible only to British jurisdiction.  Cases such as this are sure to occupy more headlines in all media as we approach the referendum on the European Union.

The  hundreds of years of  war, strife and internecine violence in Ireland pre 1923 and in Northern Ireland subsequently will be forensically analysed by historians for centuries to come.  For many of those separated by the Irish Sea from these events  they might as well have taken place on the moon. But for the inhabitants of that island tribal history reaches back eons. For me a headline last week in the Irish Post brought back its own memories.  During my professional life about thirty five years ago I was consulted by a tall well built man with a London accent.  Nothing unusual in that description except that during our conversation he remarked in an aside almost casually that he was a member of the Parachute Regiment who was involved in the shootings on Bloody Sunday.  That was it.  A few sentences spoken in about ten or fifteen seconds and we were back discussing his prime reason for consulting me.  Some things are embedded in our long term memories. We just don`t know at the time. 

Thank you to my readers for gifting me your precious minutes reading these posts from time to time. "Merry" is a very English description of a state of being.  Have a very merry Christmas and if driving north of the border bear in mind the  wise and canny Scots have lowered the drink driving limit. 

TO ARM THE POLICE WHEN POLICE KILLING VERDICTS INDICATE SUPER EFFICIENCY OR OBFUSCATION

In 1936 only on the authorisation of a sergeant with good reasons could police officers be issued with a firearm.  Since that time of course authorisation has been tightened.  A recent survey of unknown origin or accuracy indicated that the vast majority of police officers do not wish to be routinely armed. To my knowledge no such survey has ever produced a different result.  But the consequences of this are not necessarily in line with what the public wants.    This most important aspect of our overall justice system is coming under increasing strains and all in just a few weeks. The conclusions  provided by the recent  inquest into the shooting dead of Mark Duggan, namely that he was lawfully killed, have offered as many questions as answers. Last month after the Paris massacres the Met Chief pleaded to be allowed to train and appoint more armed officers in London. Less than two weeks ago an apparently unarmed man was shot dead by police in Wood Green.  In a rare action  the shooter has been arrested by the Independent Police Complaints Commission and interviewed under caution. This has provoked considerable anger from a former Met Police Commissioner who was quickly elevated to the House of Lords upon his retirement.  Current Met Chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe is also none too happy at the actions of the IPCC whose 2014 document Deaths During or Following Police Contact 2013/14 offers interesting numbers when compared to the number of those police officers actually convicted.  Like many such comparisons there appear to be two general conclusions:- our police are super efficient in their use of lethal force or there is bias and obfuscation on a grand scale.

THREE ANONYMOUS DEFENDANTS AND THE WALLS OF JERICHO

On November 9th I posted on three defendants in a high profile case of public disorder being given unconditional bail despite their refusal to reveal their names or addresses.  Indeed a trial date had been set after their not guilty pleas.  It is not all that often that I am in 100% agreement with comments offered by the Daily Mail but in this matter I agree 110%.  The decision is an affront to justice.  The CPS under its current boss Allison Saunders  has come under severe criticism recently here and elsewhere.  After the death at the weekend of Lord Janner who was suspected of child abuse she will have to decide whether the trial of facts in his case will go ahead as scheduled.  She will be damned if it does and damned if it doesn`t.  She  has lost all credibility.  She should go whilst she can still summon some dignity and allow an outsider to cleanse the stables. 

The walls of Jericho did not suddenly tumble at the first sound of Joshua`s trumpets.  The initial vibrations caused minuscule crumbling of the lower reaches of the structure where there were minute weaknesses in its stability.  They were imperceptible at first. It was the continuous application of the trumpet blasts that eventually were of such resonance that when the eventual collapse happened it was all over fairly quickly just like the sinking of the Titanic.  The institutions of a state are not dissimilar.  A once homogeneous society is now described as multi ethnic. An island nation in north west Europe is now part of the "European Project".  I offer no opinions there but I castigate those in power who realised full well when the regulations and law were adapted to allow  such to happen that our society would be forever altered and yet such predictions were withheld from the general public being realised only by the few who could read the runes.

The recent history of the CPS, the political football being played with and by the police, inappropriate influences within education,  the increasing and uncontrolled power of the executive and the Bolshevik manoeuvring of the left wing shadows behind Her Majesty`s Loyal Opposition are akin to the crumbling dust at Jericho.

THE LAW OR JUST ANOTHER OPINION?

It is not very often that a Court of Appeal decision is of legal interest to Justices of the Peace although there have been and probably will be occasions when decisions have been of intellectual interest.

Earlier this week  an appeal against a decision to remit the criminal courts charge at Inner London Crown Court  was heard.  The report in Law Society Gazette is available here.

DPP IS OUT OF TOUCH

Any regular attender at any magistrates` court over the last decade would have been able to testify to the sheer absurdity of time wasted because of the declining efficiency of the CPS.  After all an employer can`t reduce its workforce by 10%, employ lower qualified lower grade employees to substitute in addition to agency locums and not expect to face substantial difficulties.  Most people including parliamentarians are rarely interested in the justice process so it was interesting to see the DPP criticised by an M.P.  She certainly won`t go down in history to be described as outstanding as arguably were one or two of her predecessors.

JUDGES WASH THEIR HANDS

I have blogged extensively of my belief that in effect within Whitehall in a securely locked safe there is an outline document describing the phasing out of Justices of the Peace within the magistrates` courts system as now constituted.  In conjunction with HMCTS, pre determined analyses, so called consultations and the nod from the senior judiciary the way seems to being cleared for District Judges to take over and eventually usurp the functions of the lay magistracy for all but the most minor offences these being confined to a spurious system of local or neighbourhood panels. The continuing recruitment of Deputy District Judges(MC) to sit for a minimum number of sittings annually on a daily fixed fee is just the beginning of this process. 

There are 139 full time District Judges (M.C.) and 154 D.D.J.s. Ostensibly this is being trumpeted to speed up trial delays. The authorities have denied that court closures have been responsible for such delays. This is akin to saying that a shortage of bread for sale does not push up the price of what bread is available.  There is no shortage of J.P.s in England. They are available to sit when requested and no court will be underused by their inactivity. They are now, as when I was sitting,  under active because the whole courts system is being steered to increasing numbers of courts being taken by District Judges(MC) sitting alone. We can be 100% certain that more reports will be issued concerning courts all over the country. Unless some senior judges who are seemingly so proud of our jury system make known their objections to a single judge sitting on criminal trials that is precisely where we are heading. On the other hand perhaps those self same judges have been paying only lip service to their admiration of the lay magistracy and when it comes to the crunch will wash their hands of it not daring to lift a finger in its defence preferring to keep out of what they define as the  political arena.The example of their public silence over the criminal courts charge until pressure from others was overwhelming serves as an example.

DRINK DRIVING STATISTICS/YOU PAYS YOUR MONEY AND MAKES YOUR CHOICE

I have previously commented here on the unreliability of police and/or crime statistics. This does not make me a unique observer.  The scepticism in general over official statistics from immigration to sugar consumption has led to many becoming deaf to hard facts and thus allowing their opinions to be fed by prejudice. Approaching Christmas and the new year drink driving figures are of particular interest especially now that Scotland has its own reduced level of alcohol permitted for drivers: 50 mg. of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.  This is in contrast to the limit in England and Wales where the limit is 80 mg. So digging up some numbers and comments on the effects or otherwise of this differential are curious.  Of course the extent to which police pursue such potential law breakers in various areas is the great unknown.  However accepting this anomaly some incongruity is shown in the following analyses.

A recent publication by the Scottish government available here in full has the following conclusion:-  "The Scottish Government and Road Safety Scotland (part of Transport Scotland), today (16 June 2015) released new Police Scotland statistics which show one in 40 drivers stopped in the past fortnight were over the legal drink drive limit. The figure applies to drivers stopped and breathalysed between 29 May – 12 June 2015, the first two weeks of the 2015 Summer Drink Drive campaign. This is an increase compared with 2014, when one driver in every 55 stopped was found to be over the limit. Following the introduction of Scotland’s new lower drink drive limit on 5 December 2014, even just one drink could now put a driver over the limit." 

In contrast the Independent reported,  "The introduction of a lower drink-drive limit in Scotland has had virtually no impact on the rates of offending, police statistics have revealed."

While AOL newsite reports that it is the Welsh who are the worst offenders but otherwise offending has reduced.

So what is the reality?  You pays your money and makes your choice.

THEY HAVEN`T A CLUEDO

Sometimes it`s the small stories, perhaps the little read local stories that indicate more accurately than headline news where we`re going  as a country with regard to law and order.  Below are three such snippets.

Speed awareness courses are run by the local constabulary offering particular offenders the paid for opportunity to avoid three points on their license.  Even with a money making scheme like this it does offer those successfully completing the exercise an equal opportunity for rich and poor alike to buy their way out of three penalty points. I`m sure the Labour leader would approve of such a philosophy. 

It has now been established by those in horsehair headcovering that racially aggravated doesn`t quite mean racially aggravated. Irish, Scots, Welsh and in the New Year at Somerset Magistrates` Court Polish will be the context of the evidence of a racially aggravated offence.  This is a classic example of the law acting like a giant amoeba moving ever so slowly absorbing all in its path.  The extended criteria of what constitutes domestic violence is another example. From the House of Commons Library note 10/02/2015   SN/HA/6337

The new definition of domestic violence now reads:
Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. This can encompass but is not limited to the following types of abuse:
 psychological
 physical
 sexual
 financial
 emotional
Controlling behaviour is: a range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour.
Coercive behaviour is: an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim.”
This definition, which is not a legal definition, includes so called ‘honour’ based violence, female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced marriage, and is clear that victims are not confined to one gender or ethnic group.11

 And finally  Cambridgeshire Police are looking for amateur unpaid detectives. Where are you Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard and Miss Scarlett?