BECOME A J.P. WE DON`T NEED TO KNOW IF YOU`RE A FREEMASON

 

15. Feb. 2010. – 16:55:52

A few years ago........about ten or so...........when applying to be appointed as a Justice of the Peace a candidate had to declare which political party had been the recipient of his/her last general election vote, had to demonstrate that "common sense" was a faculty s/he had and could be demonstrated and that he was or was not a Freemason.

With the current new advice from the Ministry of Justice the last of those three declarations has been lifted; the others were removed some years ago.

So now those who objected to having to demonstrate common sense, owning up to which party they voted for or confirming or denying they were on the square can apply in good conscience to my boss Jack Straw via the Appointments Committee.

I wonder what changes in the Ministry`s estimate of what makes a good magistrate will be mandatory in 2020.

EAST ENDERS MORE VIOLENT THAN THE WILD WEST

 14. Feb. 2010. – 17:11:25

Since its availability to the whole population there has been a continuing discussion whether watching violence on TV has any effect on children. Most caring parents of under eights would certainly take note of the 9.00pm "watershed" even just to ensure their little darling gets enough sleep. Advertisers who pay millions to advertise products that appeal to children insist that there is no danger to children in some of the programmes paid for by that advertising insofar as children are able to discriminate real life from fantasy. Many who are "expert" and many who are not so "expert" disagree.

What is not in dispute is that many young children watch Eastenders. I have to admit that I have never seen the programme but have been aware of its transmission from the shouting and screaming from the room where others in my house have been watching it. So it was no surprise to read that in it’s 25 year history, which will be marked with a special live episode on February 19, there have been 70 deaths – 16 of which were violent. That represents a 22.8 per cent murder rate, way over the national average of 0.032 per cent.

If children in families where incoherent argument and violence are perhaps just below the surface are exposed to this "in your face, like it is" material three or four times a week is it not likely that their bases for normal behaviour will be altered? It`s possible to argue that violent video games are seen to be fantasy and have limited effects on juvenile behaviour but "family" programmes with content as described above are not the same thing. I say bring back "Wagon Train" and "Gunsmoke".

 

 

A SCOTTISH "ALCATRAZ"

 13. Feb. 2010. – 14:56:02

There is increasing confusion of whether or not the Ministry of Justice has persuaded or succeeded in that persuasion to the judiciary that it reduce the numbers being imprisoned. There has also been disquiet that magistrates are making too many suspended sentence disposals. Whether that is to imply that the sentences should not have been suspended and incarceration should have been immediate or that they  should have not been imposed at all is a moot point. What is not in doubt is that this government has not provided enough prison places.
The Belgians have had similar problems and in an attempt to alleviate the situation have paid their cousins in Holland to take 500 prisoners for £26 million per annum. What a sensible idea!

Dartmoor Prison is perhaps the best known gaol in England. Opened in 1812 in its hayday it was a fearful place where it could arguably be said that the cure was as bad as the disease. It no longer has the cache of holding the country`s worst offenders. It is a category C institution. Dangerous convicts are distributed throughout the country.

Taking the Belgium/Holland example a stage further there are dozens if not hundreds of uninhabited Scottish islands in the Atlantic. Is there any good reason cost excepted why a Scottish "Alcatraz" could not be built and its space rented to England? The weather`s conducive to being active to keep warm and the water`s very cold and deep in places. True there are no sharks but then many islands are tens of miles from shore unlike Alcatraz which was about one mile off shore from San Francisco.
It`s not often Belgium sets an example to the rest of Europe but in this matter I give their authorities five gold stars.

DO CRIMINALS HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO COMMIT CRIME?

  12. Feb. 2010. – 12:27:04

The debate about whether "nature or nurture" has the most effect upon our personality and behaviour has been around in its current form for over a century. Whilst the Freuds and Jungs of this world relied upon dreams, memories and ephemeral considerations of family life, behaviourists, physiologists, bio-chemists, biologists, anthropologists and geneticists amongst others are increasingly opening up opinions of what makes us what we are. The upshot of their researches is that we are the product of the electrical and bio-chemical reactions within our brains. If this research continues to discover evidence of what could be termed pre-determination then what lessons does it have for our current thinking on an individual`s innocence until proved guilty in court of law?

The first Intellectual Disabilities and Criminal Justice Conference, organised by the University of Chester Faculty of Health and Social Care will take place on July 8, 2010. It will analyse the relationship between intellectual disability and the criminal justice system.

For "intellectual disabilities" it is easy to substitute "low IQ" and to progress to a situation where in the name of "crime prevention" action is taken against those whose "likely criminal behaviour" is considered to have breached a threshold. The film "Minority Report" starring Tom Cruise explored this subject with some critical success. What the academics conclude at Chester will make for interesting reading.

WHEN DETERRENT SENTENCES ARE A WASTE OF TIME

 12. Feb. 2010. – 14:15:33 

On 11th January I commented on the reduction in local court reporting; LOCAL COURT REPORTS ARE A THING OF THE PAST

An erudite legal blogger has posted interesting facts on deterrence as applied in the justice system. However he misses one crucial fact and that whatever is in the mind of the law maker or sentencer the "deterrent sentence" must be promulgated to the others with a propensity to commit similar crimes. For high profile crimes national news programmes and newspapers take an almost ghoulish interest but for low level crime local TV news and newspapers hard copied or on line are the obvious places where such reports would be aired. But with reduced viewing of local TV and court reporting per se increasingly a rare event this just doesn`t happen. Of course there is the word of mouth network in pubs and other places where people of like interests congregate but can deterrence work at a low level. My opinion is that it cannot. 

DEVON & CORNWALL POLICE ARE AN EXAMPLE TO THE MET.

 

11. Feb. 2010. – 11:18:41

On 6th February I commented on the police chief in Hounslow blaming magistrates` courts for the high rate of burglaries in the town. It was his contention that if burglars were remanded in custody between court appearances the problem would be almost solved. His colleagues in Devon and Exeter Police are more realistic and are getting on with their job of protecting us, the public, instead of trying to shift the blame to others.

In 2008, 610 house burglaries were reported compared with 402 in 2009 — a reduction of more than 34 per cent. Detective Sergeant Tim Thornton, of Exeter’s burglary team said the city’s burglary squad continually monitor the movements of known offenders. He continued, "The process is quite simple — find out who is responsible by gathering evidence from a number of sources, ensure prompt arrests and secure convictions. It’s then about keeping track of known offenders, monitoring their movements and habits and working on intelligence. If they re-offend or are not rehabilitated the process is repeated.”

It could be argued that comparing crime in Wild West London and crime in rural Exeter is not comparing like with like. It cannot be argued that by attacking the courts Chief Superintendent Bilsen in Hounslow has revealed a mind set which if typical in the Metropolitan Police Service is disgraceful. I hope that by now the Commissioner of the Met has reminded his senior officers of where their job begins and ends; certainly not by slagging off magistrates.

BREACH OR NO BREACH? YOU COUDN`T MAKE IT UP

 

09. Feb. 2010. – 11:54:33

 

If ever there was a situation where accurate up to date information must be readily available it is on the desk of the Legal Adviser to a Bench of Magistrates. When papers are missing or inaccurate the consequences can vary from hilarious to horrendous. When a court is still sitting at 5.00pm which is not uncommon office staff have usually left and those in court must resolve any difficulties on the spot. Such a recent late sitting involved a woman arrested earlier in the day for breaching bail conditions in that she was seen entering the street where her lover lived although it appeared to be a condition of bail not to do so. It seemed on the surface clear enough. However the Police National Computer indicated that she was on conditional bail for two alleged assaults a month apart two trials having been set for March and April. One set of conditions forbade her from going to the complainant`s address and the other from entering the street where she lived. The Legal Adviser had papers in front of her only for one of the incidents. The Crown prosecutor had no papers for the first charge and defence lawyer had knowledge only of the other matter his client having another firm of solicitors for the first case. A sentence including the words brewery and organise came to mind. The defendant faced a night in the cells. With pragmatism borne from necessity the CPS was persuaded to drop the bail charge and the two sets of bail conditions were harmonised preventing entry to the complainant`s street. The defendant was given a very strict warning as to the restrictions on which she was released.

What would Rumpole of the Bailey have made of it? No doubt another tale of woe to be washed down with a bottle of Claret in his favourite Fleet Street watering hole.

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A PRAYER MAT or a FLYING CARPET to GET OUT of JAIL

 05. Feb. 2010. – 12:47:04

It seems that the wife of our former dear leader has opened her mouth once again a little too wide. A few years ago she was criticised for understanding the motivation of Palestinian suicide bombers. And it is recorded that she made efforts to explain why she boarded a train to Luton without a ticket in contradiction of unambiguous regulations.

Cherie Blair is a judge. She has been appointed to this onerous position because the Secretary of State for Justice and his predecessor The Lord Chancellor considered that she had the competencies to do the job. When I was appointed to the position of Justice of the Peace some years ago one of the requirements was to indicate that one possessed "common sense". Interestingly that requirement is now not investigated but that`s a tale for another time.
Below is a report from the BBC Website.

A secularist group has lodged an official complaint against Cherie Booth QC after she spared a man from prison because he was religious. Shamso Miah, 25, of Redbridge, east London, broke a man's jaw following a row in a bank queue. Sitting as a judge, Ms Booth - wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair - said she would suspend his sentence on the basis of his religious belief.

The argument of whether or not she was judicially correct in her decision that being religious was enough mitigation to avoid immediate imprisonment for the thuggish behaviour is being investigated.
But what interests me is the term "religious"....... "having or showing belief in and reverence for a deity; "a religious man"; "religious attitude"
So if a mistletoe waving druid was in court in front of Ms Blair and confirmed his devotions to the wind would his being "religious" allow him the same lenient treatment? Would a member of the cult known as scientology but whose members consider themselves privileged followers of the one and only way to Paradise be given the same status when the term scientology has even been banned from Wikipedia?

This is a monumental decision by the Arbitration Committee. Individual people have been banned before from editing on Wikipedia pages, but never before has such a large organization been banned completely from editing Wikipedia pages. The case has been running for a while now, but the evidence presented was convincing enough: members of the organization that calls itself a church, but many consider to be a dangerous cult, have systematically edited relevant pages on Wikipedia in an organised fashion.

There is no doubt that when religious matters begin impinging on the general columns of our newspapers rather than in articles by religious correspondents trouble lies ahead. Will the good lady be criticised by her superiors? There is more chance of snow falling on May Day! 

WHEN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HITS THE BUFFERS

 

05. Feb. 2010. – 11:35:46

"It`s just a domestic". Not so long ago that was the response in many cases when a woman [usually] complained to police of having been assaulted by her husband, boyfriend, partner. It was a scandalous misnomer which covered incidents of varying degrees of violence from being pushed around to broken bones and worse.

Being driven in part by increasing assertion of womens` rights, perceived inequality and the 1997 Labour government`s realisation that the womens` vote was theirs for the persuading, pressure was put upon police to "take no prisoners" when reacting to calls for help from "battered women".

"Domestic Violence"........it exists in the English language but not in law. There is no such offence! The term covers offences within a domestic context; acts of violence or abuse against a person living in one's household, especially a member of one's immediate family. In Magistrates Courts the charges are Common Assault or Assault by Beating and as per the definition can include violence towards any family member by another. It is generally accepted after extensive studies here and abroad that a complaint is made to police only after as many twenty or more such incidents have occurred. Often these offences are committed behind closed doors and the alleged victim is the main or usually only witness. It is therefore common for the alleged perpetrator to intimidate the alleged victims, 90% of whom are female, in order to avoid evidence being given against him. It became the practice a few years ago for the Metropolitan Police to declare that in conjunction with the Crown Prosecution Service all such cases would be pursued even when the complainant refused to testify. And thus was born the current policy of "Domestic Violence".

But the Crown Prosecution Service also has its own criteria on when to prosecute. In short these are that the matter must be in the public interest, be cost effective and that there is a reasonable chance of a conviction. If the complainant for whatever reason withdraws in writing the allegation and makes it known that she will not come to court and even if she were to be forced to come to court will not repeat the original allegations in the witness box the last criterion is in tatters. Although there are legal get outs, particularly hearsay evidence, it is very difficult to convict without the alleged victim`s co-operation. From my personal experience of such matters I have an impression, and it is only an impression, that the CPS is reluctant to withdraw from cases where there is very little likelihood of conviction. That is in direct opposition to its own policy.

Obtaining figures to confirm or refute this impression is very difficult. It is obvious that if it were widely known that a violent man would not be prosecuted if his partner refused to give evidence against him it would increase the likelihood of further intimidation and more serious violence.........the very actions the policy is designed to avoid. What is certain is that some serious consideration must be given to putting this subject on the agenda for thorough overhaul if and when the incoming government enacts legislation for serious purpose as opposed to gesture politics or reacting to current events with the consequent kneejerk reaction that was apparent when The Dangerous Dogs Act was drafted.