NO REPRESENTATION WITHOUT CONSULTATION

 

by TheJusticeofthePeace @ 11. Oct. 2010. – 15:53:03

There are some countries where referendums are commonly used to effect major legislative changes and some where they used increasingly sparingly often to get a government out of a tight situation. These two different approaches are epitomised by Switzerland and the U.K. The problem with the latter approach is what is good eg for the goose for Scottish or Welsh devolution is less palatable for the gander of the European Union. Once the referendum cat is out of the bag it`s very difficult if not downright impossible to get it back in.


And so it might be with the Magistrates` Association latest effort to persuade its members that it really does listen to them. A few days ago the chairman sent an e-mail asking our opinions on what best constitutes a suitable size for a bench. This was obviously in light of the impending forced amalgamation of many courts brought about by the current economic meltdown. Apart from the fact that the e-mail link to the voting options was unreliable the decision in itself has now set a precedent.


In June this year Sir Peter North`s Review of Drink and Drug Driving was published. I commented on July 5th when I discovered that the M.A.`s position as published in Magistrate magazine of that month was that the mandatory disqualification period for drink driving, if the alcohol level were lowered, be reduced from the current twelve months; a position with which I and others profoundly disagree. Where is the logic that that extremely significant decision should not be put to an e-mail referendum? Such is democracy.