MAGISTRATES & OPERATION BLACK VOTE

 

22. Jan. 2010. – 13:41:24

In our country there are some who say that all appointed officials whether they are school governors, members of the various health service committees or indeed any advisory body or similar should be representative of the society in which they live. For the rabble rouser that is indeed a worthy slogan but it had most significance when it became the rallying cry of the colonials in Boston in 1773..."no taxation without representation". However in a truly free society it would be beyond the ridiculous if representative became the major watchword in such appointments minimising ability. Such reactions are currently fuelling debates on whether or not eg universities should reduce entry standards for pupils from schools with relatively low academic standards or higher than average numbers of children entitled to free school dinners. With a limited number of places available every offer to such a "deprived" pupil reduces the availability of a place to a "non deprived" pupil with higher levels of achievement. Positive discrimination in America has been criticised by many independently high achieving black people but that is a controversial area where I will not go further.

But it is one of those proponents of Afro American advancement, Al Sharpton, who officiated at a recent reception to celebrate the appointment of 50 black magistrates. In this instance the term "black" embraced various shades of brown as many of the new appointees were of Asian origin. This was a final scene from an Operation Black Vote shadowing scheme. A government minister told them they had successfully changed the face of the magistracy. OBV director Simon Woolley said that the unique partnership had radically changed the magistracy. He commented: ‘Martin Luther King had a dream – and you are part of that dream. But he had more than a dream; he had a plan".

It would seem that ideas and actions from America are being imported and accepted into this country which has such a different history with regard to race relations. Contact with foreigners of whatever race has been endemic for a trading nation. Unlike America whose black population was originally imported as slaves for the plantations of the southern states and whose freedom was as a result of a civil war which killed more Americans than WW1, WW2, Korea and Vietnam combined our citizens of Asian and Afro Caribbean origin were either invited here to work or were welcomed as refugees from the sub continent or East Africa. The truly racial hatred which existed and to a degree still lurks under the surface in the USA existed here only in the hearts of a small percentage of bigots. They are of course unfortunately still around often to be discovered under a stone labelled BNP.

The National Black Police Association states on its website:-

“The NBPA will work in the interests of the UK police services and be an integral partner to ensure equitable service for all and for the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) staff who we represent.

We will also advocate the needs and expectations of BME
communities by delivering and supporting strategies and
initiatives which have a positive impact on all”

How long will it be before what could be described as a divisive action will be undertaken by those at the ceremony and the hundreds if not thousands of current JPs who have performed and are performing their duties as Magistrates, not black magistrates, not Asian magistrates, not Muslim magistrates, not Hindu magistrates but simply magistrates.

It is unknown whether the various Appointments Committees were in any way "directed" however obtusely in this "Operation Black Vote". It is unknown whether any of the successful candidates was appointed purely on merit or would have applied without OBV. In my opinion the doubts raised by this process should be answered.

During the celebrations Justice Minister Bridget Prentice noted that a survey of magistrates found that 97% of JPs would recommend it to a friend. Aside from the fact that the Magistracy cannot be considered as one would consider a brand of margarine I would state that neither I nor my local colleagues nor JP contributors to the Magistrates Association private Forum seems to have heard of such a survey. Perhaps a colleague with knowledge will comment.

Some would say " Appearance is all". To that extent OBV has been a resounding success but at what cost?

PERJURY AND THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE

 

21. Jan. 2010. – 12:01:21

It`s not very often that a charge of Perjury follows from proceedings at a Magistrates` court. But for a Mr Plews of Middlesbrough the game was up yesterday at Teesside Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to having made a false statement trying to avoid a driving ban because of “exceptional hardship” at Teesside Magistrates’ Court last year. He had been charged with using a mobile phone while driving and using a vehicle without insurance. He had originally presented in his evidence a letter supposedly written by Mr Belal Aslam Khan. He told the Judge at Crown Court that he wrote the letter on headed notepaper provided by Mr Khan. He was remanded in custody for reports prior to being sentenced.

It is unfortunately the case that many offenders believe that they can lie at a Magistrates` Court especially in cases concerned with driving whether eg excess alcohol, insurance or identity of driver. There should be no sympathy for Mr Plews who is likely to be imprisoned for his efforts to cheat the law. When the law can be sidestepped by lying or bribery or threats we are but one step from the original legal system; The Law of the Jungle.

TRULY THE INMATES ARE RUNNING THE CIVIL SERVICE ASYLUM

 

21. Jan. 2010. – 11:17:54

The security of magistrates across Norfolk has been compromised after their personal contact details were mistakenly sent to a prison. The BBC has learned the magistrates' year book, containing names and phone numbers, was accidentally sent for printing to HMP Standford Hill in Kent.
Her Majesty's Courts Service's area director has written to all magistrates to say he is "desperately sorry". Hard copies of the document at the prison have now been destroyed.
Security procedures have been tightened to ensure the mistake did not happen again, a spokesman for HMCS said.
The above was published earlier today on the BBC website.

It seems that government departments and of course some of their employees are operating in a different universe from the rest of us. After all the high profile cases of missing documents, DVDs with legs, laptops left everywhere but where they should be left one would have thought that right down to the shredding department in a basement in Whitehall the possibly illegal immigrant doing the shredding would have been warned to exercise extra care. Custody is designed partly to attempt the rehabilitation of prisoners. Teaching them to read [one third are illiterate] is surely preferable to having them print any sort of confidential material.

This is a serious disciplinary matter and in in some quarters would justify immediate dismissal of those directly responsible. Will that happen in Norfolk? Bet your very last bottom dollar it will not. Employment legislation makes it difficult enough in the private sector to sack employees without risking a fortune on legal fees but in the Civil Service.....it`s about time that term was changed....any offers???........it`s damn near impossible.

ARNDALE CENTRE CRIME; ARNDALE CENTRE COURT

 20. Jan. 2010. – 14:35:42 

At various times in the 650 year old history of the institution of local Magistrates the post itself has been brought nearer to "the people". A century ago especially outside London the local "bigwig"...an interesting term in itself meaning important person.....was the Magistrate. It was only after the Great War of 1914-18 that women were able to acquire the initials J.P. Since the 1960s great efforts have been made to open up the magistracy to ordinary folk doing ordinary jobs but who have the extraordinary skills required to sit in judgement over their fellow citizens. The underlying ethos is that justice should be brought right into the community so that it is carried out simply and speedily to punish wrong doers and satisfy those who have suffered from the wrong doing. 

Currently the Ministry of Justice is experimenting with "virtual" courts; effectively mini courts within police stations linked to "proper" courts by CCTV. This is highly controversial and has been criticised by many lawyers and magistrates although generally welcomed by police.
Now the chief constable of Greater Manchester Police has suggested that shopping centres – and he wants Manchester's Arndale to be the first – should contain mini magistrates courts which would try shoplifters on the spot and maybe even a mini-police station with holding cells. We are told this instant "try and fine" regime would be preferable to taking suspects to a police station to be charged and then waiting a week for them to appear at court, plead guilty and be fined according to national sentencing guidelines. John Thornhill, chairman of the Magistrates Association, was quoted as saying: "We need to be taking justice to communities and it seems to me having a court in the Arndale Centre would be one way of doing it. In principle, if we can deal with things speedily and pragmatically we are happy to do that." Not all agree. This observer is of the opinion that at a time when the Ministry of Justice is considering closing one third of existing courts to save money it makes no sense whatsoever to attempt to establish what could only become an ineffectual minimum apology for a court with or without a Costa Coffee and a Subway nearby for lunch. 

Also sceptical was Mike Mackey, ex president of the Manchester Law Society who was quoted as saying, "Are the magistrates going to have a shop window in Boots? This is the chief constable shooting from the hip. It all sounds very wonderful but there are a couple of problems with it. First, if police arrest someone it doesn't necessarily mean they are guilty. Before they get to charging anyone they have to be interviewed under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act and require access to a lawyer. Are they going to be in the Arndale Centre too? My worry is these will be kangaroo courts."
So with apologies to the kangaroos I would opine that this is another attempt by a government trying to pull back from properly funding our Criminal Justice System because our current Prime Minister wilfully and arrogantly enjoyed ten years spending our taxes in a manner which was not just imprudent but almost criminally deceitful, a government trying to obtain short term headlines that "it is acting on crime and the causes of crime" in conjunction with a police service which with some honourable exceptions does not understand the term "police state" and thinks it begins with jackboots and dungeons when in reality it begins when the rights of ordinary innocent law abiding citizens are made subservient to the "efficiency" of an all mighty state and ends with jackboots and dungeons. 

BLOWING A TRUMPET FOR MAGISTRATES

 

19. Jan. 2010. – 12:42:26

The higher the public profile and the greater the responsibility the more an individual has to jump the hurdles of appropriate and honest behaviour. Indeed in an open society under the rule of law many if not most people can reach those standards whatever their level of wealth or education. When the scandal of M.P.`s allowances became public last May most of us were more than just angry; we were dismayed that those in whom we put our trust had betrayed us and that trust. That is why the penalties in many professions eg teaching, law, medicine...up to and including prohibitions on ever working in one`s profession ever again are in place.

In 2008 1,899 new magistrates were appointed after a ruthless investigation into each applicant`s abilities and background. In the last twelve months 17 magistrates were relieved of their positions for behaviour including theft, misrepresentation, perjury, use of racist language amongst other reasons. These raw figures seem to indicate that considering the total number of JPs is around 30,000 the public can have reasonable confidence that the people on the bench are an honest respectable lot doing their best for society and taking no salary only real valid audited expenses for their efforts

TO CAUTION OR NOT TO CAUTION? THAT IS THE CHOICE

 

17. Jan. 2010. – 17:05:37

Much has been made of the supposed caution given to "TV personality" Myleene Klass. Whether or not this was a great big bit of tabloid journalism combined with Ms Klass`s PR company is another matter. However in the case of police cautions it is not obligatory for an individual to accept being cautioned. Having a caution against one`s name is still a matter of public record and will be recorded on the Police National Computer. For those in occupations where declaration of convictions is required, and with the current increase in the numbers being vetted, such an entry is almost equal to a lost job opportunity or worse still; a sacking.

My advice to those who consider a caution is unjust is that it should be refused. Then it is up to the Crown Prosecution Service to decide whether or not to prosecute. If that is decided the individual will be required to attend court, plead not guilty and take his/her chances at trial before a bench of three magistrates. You pays your money and takes your choice!

A STRANGE APPLICATION OF PROCEEDS OF CRIME ACT

 17. Jan. 2010. – 17:05:37

Quoted below is a report published today in the Huddersfield Examiner
Cans of beer seized from a Huddersfield shop are set be donated to charity. The landmark decision by Huddersfield magistrates yesterday came after licensing officers and police discovered Gohar Superstores in Paddock was selling alcohol without the necessary licenses.Now magistrates have ordered that the £300 worth of booze seized from the Church Street shop goes to Kirkwood Hospice.
It is thought to be the first time Huddersfield magistrates have written the name of a charity into a judgement for seized goods.Shop owner Allah Ditta Gohar was fined £605 for the offence at Huddersfield Magistrates Court yesterday.
Mr Gohar claimed he thought a former business partner had obtained the licences but council officers said no applications had ever been made.
Kirklees Council’s prosecutor Carol English said it was the first time she had used seizure powers to benefit a particular charity and said it was the idea of licensing manager Cath Walter.

This is a very strange application of Section 58 Power to sell seized personal property {obtained by criminality} my parenthesis: England and Wales. As far as I can see there is no authority in the Act for donations to charity of seized goods. On the contrary the powers are to sell the goods so that the proceeds go into the big tin box under his bed where the Chancellor or the Exchequer keeps all the nation`s loose change. Who knows where this could end? I`ll say it again....a very strange disposal of assets.

UNFORGETTABLE COURT MOMENTS

 14. Jan. 2010. – 12:21:44 
Over the years the utterings of those in court, officers as well as defendants, can stretch one`s tolerance but also the smile muscles. An example of the former was when a defendant appeared for sentencing on two quite separate charges of theft from a shop. The pre sentence report from the Probation Service referred throughout to the offence committed on a particular date. When the probation officer present in court was asked about the omission of any reference to the second offence [committed while on bail for the first] she replied, "We were given only one file on one offence." In response the Crown prosecutor when asked to comment confirmed 100% that two files had been handed over. I am sad to say that inefficiencies by both agencies are on the increase. This could be a combination of reduced funding leading to staff being asked to cope with far too many cases and/or simply ineffective management and too many people still at work who should be sacked were it not for some aspects of employment legislation.

The smile muscles were somewhat strained a couple of months ago when an 82 year old woman of previous good character was before us for breach of a non molestation order against her husband of similar age. She had harassed him by swearing at him with the most abusive language imaginable. Since she had been arrested and been in the cells for a couple of hours no further punishment was considered necessary and after a stern warning and a request that she didn`t repeat the offence the security officer helped her to walk to the exit door where a relative was waiting..............

Most of us know that if you drive into a tunnel under a river whether in Wales or Hull or Liverpool or Glasgow or London or virtually anywhere you are likely to find a single exit at the other end [with perhaps directions to various destinations]. Not so the teenager who appeared last year facing a charge of breaching the terms of his probation by not turning up to do his unpaid work in the community. He told us that he was going through the .....Tunnel from..... to..... and he coudn`t find the exit. Needless to say after the ripple of not so silent mirth had passed through the courtroom he was punished by a hefty increase in his hours to be worked.

I would suppose that long before my time on the Bench when the witness oath and laterally the affirmation was taken even the miscreants of what was then a God fearing population could be reckoned to be generally truthful at least some of the time. Nowadays it is occasionally necessary to remind witnesses of the seriousness of this act. A Muslim student in 2008 appeared to answer enquiries as to why he had not paid outstanding fines of around £300 from the year before. He put his hand on the Koran and read the oath whilst smiling at his friends in the public gallery and with his other hand in his pocket. He was told that if he appeared insincere or was thought to be lying, and that was the impression he was giving, he could be jailed for non payment. Sometimes the donkey needs a carrot in front of him to persuade him to walk on but often he needs a stick to his arse to make him.

Video technology for good or bad is well established within Her Majesty`s Court Service and will become much more common place over the next few years. Bail applications from prison are commonplace. The prisoner in a special area can see the court officials and magistrates depending on which cameras are "live". He cannot see the public gallery but he can be heard there. Last summer during a video link from the local prison the wife of the inmate was in the gallery whilst her husband on remand had made a bail application his face peering out from monitors around the courtroom and his Irish brogue emanating from those same monitors. When his application was refused and his view was of the chairman of the Bench telling him so he shouted out, "Tell my wife I love her, tell her I love her." The chairman replied, "You`ve shouted so loud I`m sure she heard you in Dublin never mind the public gallery where she`s listening". A tearful lady left the gallery and a "thank you sir" sounded from the monitors before the link was cut. 

There is still humanity in the justice system. 

NOT JUDGE & JURY BUT JUDGE OR JURY

 12. Jan. 2010. – 15:04:26 
In 1973 in Northern Ireland at the height of "the troubles" Diplock courts were established. In these court proceedings a trial judge sat alone without a jury. Their establishment was due to the increasing risks of terrorist attacks on jurors. Until their abolition in 2006 about 10,000 passed through the system.

In the last few days a regular feature of the English legal system rarely commented upon commanded headline reporting; the trial of seven Islamists accused of public order offences in Luton and the conviction and sentencing of five of them. What was not unique was that the accused were tried by a single District Judge and sentenced by that same judge.....trials of this nature are common place. Such trials as above could just as easily have been tried by a bench of three magistrates but to this observer it seems that "high profile" cases are invariably brought before a District Judge often on the dubious grounds that only a professional judge can sit for perhaps three or four days in a row. Many cases in the Family Court in front of magistrates can last for a few days. There is no logistical reason for this limitation of magistrates` jurisdiction. It would be interesting to know whether other JPs have a similar experience.

And the trial of the robbers just begun before a single judge a la Diplock raises the question as to whether this is the thin edge of a wedge to reduce the number of jury trials. At appeals at the Crown Court a judge sits with two JPs. It does not seem unreasonable to question why three judges were not engaged to sit as a mini jury as magistrates are when they conduct trials.

With this government`s history of limiting citizens` liberty and knowledge eg the Coroners` Bill one can never accept things at face value.

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