COURT TV IS OVERDUE

A literate population in times long past was considered a threat to authority. No clearer example was the advent of the printing press and the subsequent availability of the bible in the English language produced by William Tyndale in 1536A.D. whose efforts cost him his life. The first ever manuscript in English of the bible by John Wycliffe c1380A.D. led to his long dead bones being exhumed and crushed into powder on papal orders. With the advent of at least a rudimentary education for the masses in the middle and late nineteenth century the coming of mass media allowed sometimes lurid accounts of court proceedings to be brought to anybody`s attention for the price of one penny. Indeed court reports were a major feature of local newspapers until the increasing prevalence of a television set in most homes about fifty years ago gradually reduced the impact of the written word so far as news reporting was concerned.

From time to time MPs have debated televising the House of Commons. The first proceedings actually to be televised was the Debate on the Address in November 1989 and the first televised speech was by Ian Gow a Conservative opponent of the experiment. In July 1990 what had been an experiment became a permanent feature and it is now hard to imagine what the reporting of the political world was like without live T.V. from the House of Commons when it consisted of abridged newspaper reports mixed with opinions of newspaper editors and proprietors. Hansard was for the very few. There have been  limited transmissions in Scotland. With the Supreme Court being available live on Sky I hope this is just the beginning.

It is my opinion that those politicians charged with considering the possibilities of live programming of court are of the same mind set as their forebears of fifty years ago; the details might not be the same but the principles most certainly are especially at a time when this government like its predecessor is attempting to limit public access to legal proceedings in the civil courts and is in general under the blanket of reducing costs making life so difficult for defendants in some cases as to be impeding the maxim of innocent until proved guilty. Without doubt there are major areas of concern regarding witnesses but the principle of a public gallery open to all in 60” 3D and surround sound surely is the basis on which this innovation must be allowed to come to fruition however large the gallery.

WHEN IS "EXCEPTIONAL" HARDSHIP REALLY EXCEPTIONAL

Yasmin Qureshi Shadow Minister (Justice)

"Driving ban sentencing needs to be looked at again. Many hon. Members have referred to how the exceptional hardship plea is being used, and suggested that courts and magistrates have been granting it too readily. That clearly needs to be looked at. Maybe there needs to be a change in the sentencing guidelines that magistrates take into account when deciding whether to grant exceptional hardship. That area also needs to be revisited and reviewed". 

I have posted here all too often [for those interested just type the term exceptional hardship into the search box]  that the get out of jail free card that is exceptional hardship indeed appears to be too often accepted by benches. From my experience I suspect that legal advisors are perhaps having too much input into bench sentencing discussions. I recollect that I had to ask a new to our court L/A on her first day who sat without invitation as my colleagues and I were about to begin our deliberations to kindly leave the table and await our decision.  After somewhat heated objections she did as was requested and was more respectful of our independence at future occasions when I was sitting. The shadow minister quoted above yesterday on 20th November perhaps is unaware that this decision is outwith sentencing guidelines but on her general point I do agree. It is scandalous that so many thousands of totters escape their due deserts.  

WHEN A SEX OFFENDER ESCAPES IMMEDIATE CUSTODY

The latest sentencing guidelines on sexual assaults were published after my leaving the bench. Fortunately I did not sit on many such cases because the majority are heard in crown court.  All that I can say is that for any person and a teenage female in particular to be sexually touched by a stranger without consent or to be similarly assaulted against her will must be an awful experience.  The law on all illegal sexual activity has expanded considerably in recent years. The range of offences is listed below.

Most but not all these offences are too serious to be heard in the magistrates court. The report of a recent case at Caernarfon magistrates court fails to mention which actual offence was committed by the offender but was likely to be the offence copied below. The appropriate CPS guideline is also available below.

It appears to this observer that at the very lowest level of culpability or harm this offender has traumatised the victim to such an extent that suspending custody is more of a bench following orders to keep offenders from filling the jails with short sentence prisoners  than simple old fashioned punishment. 

CPS GUIDELINE

SENTENCING GUIDELINE EXTRACT

RANGE OF SEXUAL OFFENCES

DRIVING IN ALICE`S LEGAL WONDERLAND

Imagine you are 15 years old and after much nagging your parent(s) have given in and bought you an electric scooter.  Unsurpassed joy from the child who sets off down the pavement in a quiet suburb only to be spotted by one of the very few police officers still on the beat.  The happy go lucky child is asked to identify himself and to produce his driving license. Calamity upon calamity; the officer on hearing that there is no driving license, takes the name and address of the suspected offender and warns that a summons might follow. So far this is not a particularly pleasant tale but wait; it gets worse.  A 15 year old boy has been given six penalty points for riding a scooter "at speed". The report makes no mention of whether a police car or a beat police officer made the "stop".  No actual speed appears to have been recorded. We all know ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it but this boy in order to drive legally when he is 17 or older will have to obtain a driving license at quite some expense and then have said license immediately revoked for six months after which he will have to pass a complete driving test all over again. This is the law Alice would have recognised in Wonderland. 

COURT REPORTING

I have commented here previously and it is well known that there is a dearth of court reporting from the magistrates courts.  There are many reasons put forward for this; social media is a substitute for local reporting, local newspapers are in decline and those still publishing operate with reporting costs limited, new journalists are not well paid and court reports are generally served up by such novices in local press, public interest is lacking etc etc.  So three cheers for Grimsby Live.  I don`t know whether there is a hard copy available to the good burghers of  Grimsby but it is a pleasure for this observer to read local reports.  Other local press barons take note.  

BAKERS AND BARRISTERS

A few weeks ago a Belfast baker won his Supreme Court appeal against the lower courts` decisions that he had no legal right to refuse to bake a cake and decorate it with what he  claimed was a message with which he had fundamental disagreement. A few days ago a female Afghan barrister practising in this country was told by her instructing solicitor that his client did not want her to represent him in court but instead wanted a white male barrister to do the job. It will be interesting to see the future ramifications of this incident. The comments following the report are as interesting as the case itself. 

LOOK BACK IN ANGUISH

Earlier this morning I had reason to revisit the first post published on 19th November 2009 by The Justice of the Peace on a site now long since withdrawn from the internet. On the second anniversary of that first post I posted the following:-

"Exactly two years ago today my first post appeared on this site. It was entitled CAUTION GIVEN AFTER A CONVICTION FOR A SIMILAR OFFENCE. That was 804 posts ago. With approaching seven thousand visitors monthly this blog is still miniscule in its numbers of readers cf the other one. However I thank all who have found my literary meanderings of some interest. This exercise has however provided an avenue of escape for the writer`s frustrations at the underlying decay which is eating away at the foundations of this grand old institution, a decay which has been caused 100% by government`s determination to continue to impede the quality and efficiency of justice available to the common man in order to try and obtain it on the cheap. There are two foundations which a democratic government must provide for its citizens; protection from invasion and a justice system to allow citizens to register their agreements and to resolve their civil disagreements and to protect the them from breaches of the peace which would or could disturb a contented life. All other interventions are secondary.

In the last year or so I have in consultation with my colleagues twice refused to begin a sitting at 10.00am because the non CPS court to which we were allocated had itself not had an usher allocated to it owing to non replacement of the “natural wastage” of employees. For those unfamiliar with the terminology non CPS courts involve prosecutions originating from various prosecuting authorities except the CPS eg local authorities. Inevitably many more lawyers are involved than usual as are the defendants and without an usher chaos reigns. The first such refusal produced an usher in 30 minutes, the second: 20 minutes.

However much courtroom events can be converted into dry statistics I have tried to convey the reality of real people in real situations. The sheer stupidity of some of those who appear before us sometimes takes some believing. During the summer a 25 year old was in court after admitting breach of a community payback requirement. He didn`t take kindly to having a curfew imposed as a punishment in addition to the existing order. He smashed his way out of the non secure dock screaming obscenities and pushed his way out of the courtroom. A swift phone call later he was eventually arrested outside the building having damaged a couple of large flower pots. He was charged with criminal damage and resisting arrest. However on being searched he was found with a wrap of cannabis in each shoe. What kind of individual comes to court with excessive footwear of that nature? Events such as that leave one sceptical of the possibilities of rehabilitation which perhaps ten or fifteen years ago might have had some beneficial effect on him and spared society the clearing up process.

Along with my colleagues I have watched the decline of CPS efficiency and despite the efforts of those in front of us its quality drains away before my eyes. I have experienced the trebling of the numbers of non represented defendants owing to the restrictions imposed upon legal aid. I have seen L.As who admit to having to be more effective in trying to get their overlisted courts through most of the work than ensuring defendants are treated with respect when at 4.00pm they are told their case despite assurances will not go ahead. I know that those self same good people are under the threat of redundancy when their financial outgoings are at their most precarious. I know the outrageous redundancy terms that have been put to our liason officers in the forthcoming re-organisation. I have experienced during the riots being pushed hard from on high to remand in custody; a dictate which with colleagues, I refused. I have noted that Her Majesty`s Courts and Tribunal Service treats J.P.s with disdain or even contempt. I am continually dismayed at the kow towing of the officers of the Magistrates` Association in their dealings with government brought about in part from the lack of a desire for democracy within that organisation. Simple researches for subjects worth discussion have shown that however tough the job of a police officer is the police in general are lions ordered about by donkeys in their great war against a disorderly and often dangerous section of our society. And finally some of the crass and plainly stupid statements from members of government who are making decisions which affect justice in this country lead me to have had my cynicism quotient ratcheted up by a factor of two since this self imposed release of my frustrations began.

Roll on year three. Feel free to inform a friend/colleague of this website. It might assist in easing their frustrations also. I feel a bit better now."

Courts have been described by some as theatre. It is extremely disappointing to admit to myself looking back in anguish as well as anger that much of the above content is still applicable to the situation within magistrates courts; indeed it would not be difficult to argue that the position is measurably dire in comparison to 2011 as above. I dread to predict what the position will be nine years hence considering that it is unlikely that LASPO and its iniquities will be repealed or that funding will be available in sufficient quantities for all the agencies which have historically been contributing to what we call our justice system,

TO BE OR NOT TO BE A TOTTER

I was retired from the bench three and a half years ago and many fundamentals at court have changed since then, some for the better but more for the worse. One aspect of sentencing which was made very clear to my bench more than once was that in the case of motoring offences where the option available was to immediately  disqualify or issue penalty points resulting in an offender being a totter and thus receiving a mandatory six months ban the correct and appropriate procedure was to issue the requisite points and let justice take its course in the immediate disqualification of the miscreant.  I am unaware if this process was advised for my bench only or was laid down nationally.  Not surprisingly I am unaware of current advice given to magistrates. It would appear that at Norwich Magistrates Court discretion was used contrary to the aforementioned advice when I was active.  Perhaps a current court worker could clarify the situation?

PS The court reporter appears to forgotten how to add up.  8 penalty points as reported plus an additional 3 would not have reached the threshold for disqualification which is 12. Notwithstanding the error my post does pose a reasonable question. 

SENTENCING OUTCOMES AT KIRKLEES MAGISTRATES COURT

Results from Kirklees and neighbouring magistrates courts make interesting reading. Some readers might discern a pattern in or between courts` decisions; some might find the sentencing insufficiently severe or unjustifiably less than they would have applied.  The current sentencing guidelines are available here.  Whatever the subjective opinion there is no doubt that political considerations are driving sentencing every bit as much as judicially conceived desirable outcomes. 

A BENCH`S DECISION IS POLITICALLY DESTABILISING

There is one factor in the sentencing procedures that I found was overlooked many times by experienced colleagues and "news" to those recently appointed; namely protection of the public. I take that simple phrase to mean that people should be protected from what could be reasonably be considered as the likelihood of an offender committing future crimes based upon his/her previous record.  The thinking process for sentencers could be similar to that when bail is being considered for an individual who is awaiting trial or a future appearance. It`s not quite looking into a crystal ball but it is still a process where common sense is involved; a requirement no longer required for aspiring magistrates. An example of where it seems that public protection was recently a concept foreign to a lay bench in Lancashire is available here in a comprehensive report. The comments following should not be ignored.  They indicate how out of touch that bench was with their fellow Lancastrians.  Of course those who take the time to comment cannot be assumed to be a representative sample but ignoring such opinions is likely to distance "us" from "them" and that is politically destabilising.   

POLICE REFUSE LOST PROPERTY

Further evidence as if any were needed that the decimation of finances for policing is changing generations` habits of our police being regarded as with us rather than as in many jurisdictions  with them is shown by the recent but little publicised announcement by the Chief Constables` Council that the honest citizen`s instinct to hand in lost valuables at their nearest police station will be rebuffed. This decision is hoped to save £1.5 million annually although how such numbers can be predicted beats me. I suppose time and motion studies can conjure up any number that`s wanted. I am sure that I am not alone when as a child I found a banknote in the street and my parent said we must take it to the police station.  I doubt that many parents would have had such advice in recent times. The police, of course, are spouting the same old story about focusing scarce resources on areas of highest concern to ensure the public are kept safe.  

Breakdown in society does not necessarily come about by riots, marches, terrorism or even political corruption: it occurs when public faith in the administration of the nuts and bolts of our society leads to a feeling of impotence by Tom, Dick and Harriot. It is already happening in policing where attitudes similar to those of black Americans will spread to all areas and all sub groups of our society.  As a Conservative IMHO this is all as a result of unbridled rampaging capitalism being allowed to gorge itself beyond healthy limits.  It has allowed those ignorant of the effects of Marxism to follow a cult leader like the children followed the pied piper.  Just call me JP aka Jeremiah`s Prophesies. 

POLICE & LAW SOCIETY IN JOINT TIRADE AGAINST GOVERNMENT

It seems that the Law Society and senior police officials are getting together to spread the word that  falling numbers of crown court prosecutions are not some statistical accident or an indication that society is becoming more observant of the law. No; the numbers are indicative of fewer police to catch the miscreants in the first place and fewer police to process the cases for the CPS which is not itself directly criticised but as those in the legal world know only too well that organisation having been down sized by more than 10% in funds and  personnel in a decade is not without culpability.  See these press releases of the last few days from Devon,  Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire,  North Wales, and Warwickshire. An obvious PR exercise against austerity but how much did it cost and by whom was it sanctioned?

THIS JUDGE IS A BULLY

I have opined in the past that Justices of the Peace seem to be more harshly treated for alleged transgressions than members of the professional judiciary. The recent case of a judge threatening to jail a 14 year old child if she cried in court whilst her mother was giving evidence is a case in point. HH has been criticised by the Court of Appeal. 

Such flagrant bullying of a minor should not be concluded with just a rap across the legal knuckles. He should be charged with misconduct. If it were a magistrate making those remarks s/he would be on the scrapheap in short order. Whether it is right that part time unpaid lay J.P.s should be dealt with on a different basis from full or part time professional judiciary is another matter to be debated at another time. 

MAGISTRATES` MINIMUM AGE ON TWITTER POLL

I have recently had a dispute on Twitter on the worthiness of young magistrates cf their older counterparts. Whilst a fresh pair of eyes looking at a situation cannot be criticised, as a reason for having a minimum age of 18 it does not hold water. Barely out of school and with, according to latest science, a still not fully developed brain, it is unlikely that at such an age justice can be dispensed with maturity, wisdom and unfettered by personal considerations.  This argument can of course be developed for many more words. The representative of diversity protagonists seem to be virtually unassailable these days  but for those interested I have tweeted a poll on Twitter @bloggingJP on this topic. Whether you agree with me or not make your opinion public anonymously.  

MAGISTRACY BEING KILLED OFF

I am increasingly convinced that the selection process for magistrates is flawed. During my time on the bench it was common knowledge that there were perhaps 5%-10% of colleagues who were not intellectually or otherwise of a standard comparable with the job. Sanctions were rarely applied. Already this month four magistrates have been before the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office.  Of these two have been removed from the magistracy owing to their failure to commit to the minimum number of sittings required and a third for drug possession. The fourth behaved in what only can be described in a crassly ignorant manner not befitting her position and was fortunate IMHO for not suffering the same fate as the other three. 

Altogether this year twelve Justices of the Peace have been removed from the magistracy the majority for failing to sit the minimum meagre requirement of a half day every fortnight; a schedule which does not allow the skills or knowledge necessary to be embodied in a lay magistrate sitting as a winger and is scandalously too little for a chairman to acquire the skills required.  These numbers are not unusual.  Every month JPs are thrown out for their unwillingness to devote the time required; a commitment that every appointments committee must surely emphasise.  So why does it happen?  It is a total waste of time and money to appoint and train somebody who fails at such a predictable hurdle.

Like so much else within the MOJ`s empire  the magistracy I believe is slowly being allowed to whither on the vine.  When it finally is killed off in its traditional form our legal system will be so much the poorer.  

COURT ESCAPES

During my time as an active JP I was not personally in a court from which a defendant had escaped although there were a couple of such episodes in an adjoining courtroom.  In my very early days there usually was a uniformed police officer in the remand court and others in the vicinity as witnesses to one case or another.  That level of security tailed off in the late nineties. Some docks were secure particularly in the remand courts but others presented no barrier to a determined miscreant who might have decided to abscond or do harm to those present. Recently two violent offenders breached what little there was of court security at Worcester Crown Court and Grimsby Crown Court respectively. I am a blogger and not a research statistician. There are no easily obtained statistics on the numbers of individuals who have attempted or actually achieved an escape from court.  The nearest document of significance is listed below.  It is not dated nor does it offer the aforementioned numbers; I would opine that that is deliberate obfuscation by the MOJ; a trait which has become the norm. When the numbers are hidden only the most dedicated will sniff them out.  So just another result from the decimation of police numbers initiated by an incompetent home secretary who is honing her position as the most incompetent prime minister in my lifetime. 

Not being sufficiently techie the link below should enable access of pdf. document.

The Management of Prisoners that present a risk of escape or violence ...

https://www.judiciary.uk/wp.../management_prisoners_risk_escape_violence.pdf

Annex 2 - Management of Prisoners who present a Risk of Escape or. Violence when attending Court - Application to Court for Improving Security. Arrangements .

SHAME ON HIM!

It is extremely risky and perhaps foolhardy to describe the actions of others in life and death situations when sitting safely at a keyboard.  I will take my chances. When people sign up for the armed forces or the fire or police service they know that they are likely to be in some physical danger at some time(s) in their career.  Those who are promoted to leadership roles must have indicated to their superiors that in addition to perhaps exhibiting rare skills of management or expertise that they have not forgotten the basics of the job; ie to run towards the danger whilst the rest of us run from it.  It seems that the acting Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police at the time of the Westminster terrorist attack had forgotten these basics.  SHAME ON HIM! 

LADY WINDEMERE AND LORD DARLINGTON HAD IT CORRECT

It seems that it is not only in the UK where police patrols on motorways are far less common than a decade ago; after having just returned from travelling on autoroutes in Normandy and Brittany the French police appear to be equally absent. Although road casualties in France are far higher than here I felt that the French hare brained, must get there quicker than you attitude has diminished. Indeed I felt confident crossing a road by a zebra crossing that traffic would stop.......and it did. Which brings me to yesterday`s announcement from the Chief Constable of Lincolnshire that he is giving additional discretionary powers to the county`s PCSOs.  Many years ago I posted on creeping practices across many professions of hailing the extra help that "assistants" would give to principals.  The argument went that the employment of such people at relatively low wages would free up time for their senior professionals and would thus be cost effective.  Such briefings always emphasised that the role of the assistants would not impinge that of their professionally qualified superiors. Thus were born CPS prosecuting assistants, teaching assistants, dental assistants, optical assistants, nursing assistants and many others including police community support officers.  Of course it is now acknowledged from government to nursery that what the military term "mission creep" has truly engulfed us when these assistants take on the roles previously withheld from them and for which latterly pseudo qualifications have been required.  And all this is for the single purpose of saving money whatever the cost to society in the longer term. 

Most generally law abiding citizens come into contact with police only for traffic matters.  Police constables having survived intensive scrutiny to be accepted, with their extensive training in the classroom and on the job learn how to handle the sensitive interface between them and the public; whether a firm warning is sufficient right up to the powers of arrest.  My experience in practice and whilst on the bench is that PCSOs lack such judgement.  That`s not surprising considering the low level of academic requirement and a starting salary of £19,500 maximum.  Now these assistant police officers by any other name are being given enhanced powers by a constabulary which Her Majesty`s Inspector of Constabulary concluded was below the "must do better" level of a school report card. 

This is the time we live in when a former home secretary applying the rules of austerity recently agreed with the then 2018 home secretary Amber Rudd that rising crime bears no relationship to the decimation in the numbers of police officers and that government funding had increased.    

Never was the phrase "government that knows the price of everything and the value of nothing" more applicable.........with apologies to Oscar Wilde.

J.P. EN VACANCES EN NORMANDIE

I have a great liking for calvados so for the next week or so I will be in my element at the home of all drinks apple; no doubt I will also sample un demi de cidre in Normandy over the next week or so. 

PARADOX OF PERSONALITY OF HMCTS TOADS

On 14th June I posted on the MOJ`s search for a "national leadership magistrate". Since then all but one regional leadership toads have been appointed. 

If there are any doubters that the end of the magistracy as it has been known for over 600 years is on the horizon they should re-examine the political history of the organisation and its ancillary duties over the last twenty years.  I made my first of many comments on the demise of an independent magistracy almost as soon as I began blogging as Justice of the Peace in 2009 (at a now defunct site). This total potential control by HMCTS surely points to the eventual wiping out of the Magistrates Association as a point of influence. But what kind of person signs up to be a government lackey?  I can only assert that those with the attributes to be politicians or regional leadership magistrates are the very people whose personalities indicate that they should not actually do those jobs. I term this the paradox of personality.

DON`T LET ME BE MISUNDERSTOOD

It is becoming increasingly irrefutable that the disastrous cuts in police numbers instigated when she was home secretary by arguably the worst prime minister in modern times are resulting in a crime wave of horrendous proportions where daily killings in London are common place and drug dealers are extending their empires to every town and village in the country.  In the light of such activity one would have thought that police up and down the country would maximise their limited resources for public protection and prevention of breaches of the peace. One would have thought wrongly at least in the case of the thin blue line attempting to patrol the county of Leicester`s many streets and byways. This is the constabulary which in 2015 announced with the bravado of a  teenage Lothario who had made his first conquest that in future investigations of alleged burglary it would investigate only those addresses with even numbers. Not satisfied with the derision that that decision heaped upon those officers at the sharp end those responsible for allocating what funds are available for officers` training have now used their collective wisdom to offer banter training to reduce workplace tensions when misunderstood language might be the cause of perceived offence.  

The only offence I can perceive is to the common sense of police officers and to the tax payers of Leicester. That wonderful sixties blues band The Animals had it just right; "Don`t let me be misunderstood". 

WHAT IS DIVERSITY?

I`m a collector or perhaps hoarder is a more accurate description the result being that I never have enough space to put away all my bits and pieces. It was whilst I was searching this morning for some documents from the 1990s that I stumbled across the learning log supplied when I attended the weekend induction course to the magistracy. The third entry written on December 31st at the end of my first year on the bench describes my thoughts and I copy it word for word below.

“Legally two cases stand out. The first at the beginning of the year; a case of two black defendants being accused of causing harassment, alarm and distress to two police officers with three other officers as witnesses. We decided there was no case to answer. This was my first trial. It was a rude awakening to how the police can operate against “short tempered” innocent blacks and how the rules governing the threat to use CS gas were disregarded. I wonder if the defendants considered that a white, middle class middle aged bench believed their story to the exclusion of the police evidence and whether it was a topic amongst their friends or family that might indicate that the courts were not biased against them”.


The above sitting was prior to the murder of Stephen Lawrence. 

MORE FROM THE MOUTHPIECES AT THE MOJ

Still not fully recovered from the wee germ but it so happens there have been some recent  government press releases which might be of interest. Results of fully-video hearings pilot published.    Still this regime will not be deflected from the path of instant distance justice whatever the cost in human emotion. Pilots will inevitably be deemed as successful and the English language is tortured to death to excuse any unwanted results. Judicial Diversity Statistics 2018 will show that the magistracy is the most diverse of all judicial levels but IMHO we are being hanged on this term when quality and suitability should be the only criteria.  Judicial office holders must be respected for their ability to do the job not fulfil a quota. Jail time to double for assaulting an emergency worker  It would seem that in order for the increased penalties to be available such matters will have to go to crown court as the lower courts` powers are limited to six months custody for a single offence.  According to the release, "Attacking a person serving the public is already an aggravating factor in sentencing guidelines but this Bill will put that position on a statutory basis for emergency workers".  I thought the general idea is to simplify the law not increase its complexity but then I`m just a lowly ill informed retired JP.

FORGIVE THE GAP

Recovering from a viral infection. Normal service will, I hope, be resumed ASAP

J.P.s OUTSPOKEN BUT A WASTE OF TIME

It has been my opinion for over a decade that the concept of local justice is local in name only and that the function of Justices of the Peace will be but a historical footnote by the middle of the next decade. Magistrates are not well organised as a lobby group.  The Magistrates Association has faded from prominence and influence to be replaced by national bench chairmen in a so called forum under the complete control of the executive.  To add to the situation and to seek more control the MOJ in June advertised for a National Leadership Magistrate.  No announcement has yet been made if that position has been filled. Full details can be found on my post of 14th June. With all that in mind I was impressed to read in the Guardian that Kent magistrates have made their own direct protest at the changes anticipated which are just around the corner. Their arguments are cogent but I fear they are fighting a losing battle.  The MOJ will not make substantive changes in its intentions to further remove from our courts the essentials of a level playing field where the guilty are punished and with an equality of arms the innocent are  set free.

TO SEE OR NOT TO SEE

It`s not often that a news event slots into so many aspects of my life and my hobby as a blogger.  I was retired from the magistracy having reached the biblical three scores years and ten, I have recently had to renew my driving license and in a previous life I was an eyecare professional.  The news event is that police are to be given powers to immediately revoke the driving license of somebody who fails a police initiated roadside "eye test".  A first impression might be that this is a worthwhile new activity for police to be involved in but I question that.  The current requirement to ascertain if an applicant for a driving license can see properly is for him/her to read a number plate on a vehicle at 20M in normal daylight conditions.   Other requirements do not require anything other than a driver`s declaration.  Professional organisations associated with eyecare, its practice and its practitioners have for many decades pleaded with government to insist that license applicants be subjected to a comprehensive eye examination and issued with a certificate of competence on meeting the required standard before a practical driving test is taken.  Currently as far as I am aware that requirement at a minimum is still before government for those like me who must renew their license every three years.  As if police are under employed another task is handed to them.  But they are not the people who should be doing this; there are optometrists on every high street  fully equipped academically, professionally and legally to undertake this work.   By by- passing this route it is another example of this government`s choosing the cheapest easy way out to meet what is perceived a public demand. i.e. it is another public relations gimmick by the worst and arguably most incompetent cabinet minister in my lifetime......Chris Grayling; he who removed books from prisoners, he who imposed court charges which were rescinded as soon as he left office, he who has buggered up all he touches as Transport Minister.  So many commentators more knowledgeable than I have said it: Oh for Her Majesty`s  Opposition that was worthy of the name to offer us an alternative to the current lot who indeed could not have a wild party in a brewery.  

A LAW UNTO THEMSELVES

I have remarked previously that when Justices of the Peace step out of what the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office  considers the appropriate judicial approach a heavier hand is applied than seems to be the case for the rest of the judiciary.  Perhaps it expects more from those who volunteer their services, perhaps they are easier to replace and so individually have less value than their seniors, perhaps being unable to alter their lifestyle by the implicit threat for the most dire offences they are sanctioned more often, perhaps as a corollary professional judges are less likely to lose their position owing to the JCIO being mindful that removal would affect a judge`s income and be likely to hinder future employment prospects.  With those thoughts in mind I read of the case of HH Judge Karen Holt who accessed case files in a matter where her daughter was a witness. It is impossible to believe that had a magistrate done something remotely similar s/he would not have been removed from the magistracy. But one must remember that the JCIO is a law unto itself. 

**************

Generally speaking most upright law abiding citizens would think that coming to the defence of a woman who was being attacked by a man was a heroic action deserving praise even if in so doing a single punch felled the attacker.  In Jersey apparently the opposite is true; at least in this case. Whilst we know little of the circumstances except the essentials it does seem rather odd but then the Channel Islands are literally a law unto themselves.

LIVE TV WILL ALLOW JUSTICE TO BE SEEN AND HEARD TO BE DONE

For anybody interested in the law and the legal system last week`s ITV programme on the Court of Appeal was possibly the most interesting and entertaining programme on the subject for many a year.  For a very long time I have been an advocate of live streaming of court proceedings with, of course, the caveat that we don`t lose sight of "justice" for all parties by the nature of the editing and directing which would be inevitable.  Indeed a five minute delay when broadcasting live would be essential.  However I sense that there is much opposition to the very idea of "court TV".  Opposing opinion strikes me as very similar to that existing when the live televising of parliament was mooted in 1968.  The question to arise is not if to have TV coverage of courts but which level of court should be the first to be broadcast.  An argument that a dedicated TV channel be devoted to the topic might find favour with current media outlets being amongst the obvious contenders for such a franchise. With the Supreme Court having been the first (Scottish courts excepted) to allow the cameras within its dusty walls and last week`s programme as precedents I would opine that in keeping with the trend, cases at the High Court would follow.  Under the strict direction of senior judiciary justice would be seen to be done by the public which is being served.  On the other hand if magistrates` courts proceedings were televised it might have more appeal and interest in an area where criminal activity at all levels  could be related to by viewers. It might also act as a deterrent and public humiliation for potential offenders just as the stocks did so many years ago. 

One thing can be predicted with absolute certainty; the angst within the legal fraternity re live TV from courts will be seen in a couple of decades from now as parliamentary broadcasting was amongst politicians years ago.  And that was based, despite the hot air of political windbags, on efforts to preserve secrecy of the goings on in a clublike atmosphere.  Just as parliament exists for the functioning of our democracy and not its players so justice in the form of our courts exists similarly.   Let it be seen and heard to be done. 

LOCAL JUSTICE BY THE FISHER FOLK JPs OF HUMBERSIDE

The MOJ in its confusion about what constitutes local justice insists that that concept still exists when reality indicates the contrary.  National guidelines on sentences and magistrates` licensed to sit at any court in England and Wales..........when I was appointed I was restricted to my local court(s) show that in practice a national system of courts is in operation.  An interesting article in Grimsby Live purports to show that the region`s courts are more "jail happy" than the national average.  Of course this is a big boost for those who repeatedly claim that the lower court should no longer have custodial sentencing powers. Perhaps the good burghers of Humberside have their own sense of priorities in dealing with offenders whilst still being guided by the Sentencing Guidelines but refusing to be constrained by them.   In that event no doubt the Justices Clerk for the region will be told by his/her bosses to sort out those fisher folk and their old ideas of justice and retribution and allow the tenets of the metropolitan nanny state to operate unfettered.  

THE MYOPIA OF THE MAGISTRATES ASSOCIATION

On Wednesday August 22nd I posted on the broadcast earlier this week of the chairman of the Magistrates Association John Bache and his moaning and groaning of the need to recruit new magistrates with special reference to diversity.  Notwithstanding the political correctness and myopic lack of vision behind his utterances he also made what seemed to be a plea associated with that apparent (to him)  lack of diversity of encouraging more ethnic minority candidates to apply even if they have a criminal record.  His myopia is his failing to read the signposted intentions of this government and probably any other removing magistrates from the court process completely and having professional District Judges (MC) chairing proceedings alone although there is a possibility that Justices of the Peace will be allowed to remain as wingers only in cases where custody is a possibility. With one third of courts closed and government determined to  increase the use of video courts the cost of employing the aforesaid professionals if they agree to dispense with the then unrequired legal clerk would be as cheap if not cheaper than the costs of paying JPs` expenses. They would of course be beholden to government and that would give government what it always wants:- more control although with representatives like Bache who bend to every puff of air from Petty France the days of a so called independent magistracy were numbered a long time ago.  

Letters to the Telegraph today and copied below are not necessarily reflective of the general population but do give a sprinkling of opinion on the above. What can be said is that as far as the Ministry of Justice is concerned it goes ahead with whatever scheme is suggested by the weasels in Petty France to placate the Treasury in its constant drive to lower its budget regardless of effects on court users of all kinds.  That is why today our justice system is crumbling except for the oligarchs of eastern Europe when it comes to minimising their divorce payouts to former wives or litigating against former business partners and who willingly spend millions to keep chancellery and divorce lawyers in heightened luxury to protect their often ill gotten gains. 

Letters: Magistrates don't need to be ex-criminals to understand people on trial

23 August 2018 • 12:01am

SIR – According to the 2011 census, 87 per cent of the population were white or white British. That means that 13 per cent were not.
Why, then, is John Bache, Chairman of the Magistrates Association, worried that only 12% of JPs are black and ethnic minority? This seems reasonable to me, bearing in mind that those appointed in the last century would have been proportionately more white.
Until I retired as a magistrate last year, most criminals were male, yet half of the bench were women. It is fair in general terms to argue that magistrates should reflect the society which they serve, but that does not mean that an individual defendant should expect a bench reflecting his or her characteristics, particularly if they are of a criminal tendency.
Michael Staples JP
Seaford, East Sussex

SIR – Mr Bache is trying too hard to be politically correct by seeking to recruit more former offenders as magistrates to “make those accused of crimes feel less alienated by the justice system”. 
It is far more important that the justice system retains the confidence of the victims of crime and the law-abiding majority, as well as criminals, by having magistrates of obvious integrity.
Ronnie Bradford
Vienna, Austria

SIR – Your report includes the phrase “hiring more magistrates”. Magistrates are not hired but appointed, as unpaid volunteers. That needs to be borne in mind in any discussion of the matter.
As to the need for diversity, the principal requirement is awareness of the circumstances of those who appear in court. You need not have financial problems to judge poor people, or be black to judge black people.
Experience like that gained in Citizens’ Advice, seeing people of every kind of background, can provide the necessary qualification.
Katie Watson
Petworth, West Sussex

SIR – Sitting as a deputy stipendiary magistrate, I did not have to be a former thief to know the difference between a mother stealing food for her hungry child and a man stealing watches for profit.
Peter Thompson
Sutton, Surrey

SIR – Mr Bache suggests that recruiting magistrates with criminal records would make those accused of crimes feel less alienated by the justice system. I thought that one aspect of the justice system was just that – to make criminals feel alienated from the norms of civilised society.
David Salter
Kew, Surrey

SIR – It is suggested that former criminals should be magistrates, and only gay actors should play gay characters. What next – MPs that have lived and worked in the real world before representing us mere mortals?
David Dorey

DIVERSITY; THE "D" WORD

All those with connections to the concept of justice as a department of state will know that magistrates are rather thin on the ground and on the bench. There were 30K when I was appointed and about 16K now.  The idea of "diversity" within the magistracy has been a running sore throughout the last twenty years.  Having never been on an appointments committee the activities of which are secret I have no first hand knowledge of just how far such committees consider lowering the requirements when faced with a dearth of applicants from ethnic minorities but under an obligation to ensure that their court`s ratio of such individuals meets government`s required levels.  What I do know with absolute certainty is that at my own court there were a  very few black colleagues whom everyone from the Deputy Justice Clerk downwards knew had been appointed because of that aforesaid requirement. 

There has been a perennial complaint that the magistracy is too white, too old and too middle class.  To those criticisms it used to be added; too male. Not any more; over half of JPs are female. Latest statistics show that  more than half of magistrates were female (55%),12% of magistrates declared themselves as BAME.  The system has always allowed capable applicants with historical minor offences in their background to be appointed; eg a previous conviction of dangerous driving or assault.  But the supposed mouthpiece for magistrates, the Magistrates Association, which nowadays is not representative of its members except that they subscribe for its magazine is as usual pushing the diversity issue once more as if its credibility depends upon it.  I suppose it does because it increasingly just echoes government wishes on matters affecting the lower court. The latest to join this club is chairman John Bache. He bemoans the age profile of magistrates. It is a no brainer that only those with sufficient income can offer the required unpaid time to join the bench.  That usually increases with age. It is only by not having to pay magistrates a salary that prevents a wholly professional judiciary taking over completely the magistrates courts` system.  In order to encourage recruitment he is actively seeking candidates with criminal convictions.  He declares this as another way to increase "diversity".  This D word seems to be the watchword for so much rubbish emanating from government departments and those who criticise are immediately targeted as racist.  Quota systems, for this is what diversity is, demean those who constitute the diversity target. Doubt is inevitably placed in their inherent aptitude for the job. Indeed I know that it has made some feel that they almost have had to prove their abilities to their peers.  That is a terrible price to pay.  And of course there is the actual meaning of diversity.  Where does it stop? the categories are almost endless. 

When I applied there was a place on the form to fill in; "which political party did you vote for when you last voted at a general election?"  I returned the form with that question unanswered. It was returned shortly after with a covering letter stating that if I did not answer that question my application would be immediately rejected. I answered the question.  That question has long since disappeared from the application form.  I doubt that questions on race and/or religion will be on the application form  20 years from now. Indeed I doubt that magistrates will be part of the court function in 20 years from now. 

PROPAGANDA OF TV FLY ON THE WALL JUSTICE

The area where most decent law abiding citizens come into contact with police is when driving.  Owing to the discretion allowed the police their attitude in any individual case could leave a life long impression.  Nowhere is this discretion more widely operated than when a minor infringement of road traffic laws has been observed. Breaking lower level speed limits is one such infringement.  On motorways there is no excuse for breaking the 70MPH limit except in very exceptional circumstances eg to avoid a collision. And especially when many  new cars have cruise control or adaptive cruise control which being radar operated brakes automatically when approaching too close to the vehicle in front. But in towns and built up areas concentration on other traffic factors can lead to a momentary breaking of a 20MPH, 30MPH or 40MPH limit.  For police to seriously consider that 1MPH over those limits warrants the issue of a ticket and 3 penalty points is a further signal that the police in this country are setting their own agenda. Increasingly they are losing the goodwill of the public they serve by failing in their primary purpose of preventing breaches of the peace and the investigation of lower levels of real criminal activity. Of course police forces have been decimated by reductions in funding and the personnel required.  We can thank Theresa May for that although she would like us to forget that she was six years home secretary and authorised the cuts in resources.  Nevertheless during my last motorway journey last weekend of 200 miles  I did not observe a single police motorway patrol; a place where they would have been of more use than in many towns. Or perhaps they keep their efforts live for reality TV programmes where many parts of the justice system seem to be popping up with unfailing regularity. Detectives in live action and the CPS now have fly on the wall TV time. I suppose the relatively low costs per hour to the TV companies make such programmes worthwhile and for the forces of law and order such propaganda is an effort to whitewash their inefficiencies and reducing lack of public confidence.