The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog:

• COURT MANAGEMENT From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (10 hours old)

  Anyone interested enough to read this blog will no doubt be aware of the legal profession’s unity in the face of the cuts in legal aid euphemistically described by their originator as reforms. As a… more

• WATCH YOUR ONION From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (1 day old)

  There has been only limited reporting of a trial at Stafford Crown Court which collapsed two years ago six months after it opened. The case involved alleged abuse of child victims by men of Pakistan… more

• WEED WON`T BE KILLED BY FINES From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (2 days old)

  Perhaps one of the most if not the most frequent miscreants who appear at magistrates` courts are those convicted of possession of cannabis classification of which has varied between B and C dependi… more

• SPEECHLESS From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (3 days old)

  One would have thought that a document issued today on behalf of The Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP, Nick Hurd MP and Jeremy Wright MP with the word “reforms” in its title would at least have had the spelling… more

• VOLUNTEERS OR UNPAID EMPLOYEES? From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (3 days old)

  Magistrates are unpaid volunteers. Most, in my experience, value their independence. Most would not be willing to accept payment in lieu of that independence. Many (most?) echo my own view that Her… more

• IS LITTERING A NATIONAL STEREOTYPE? From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (4 days old)

  There are some aspects of a society that seem for many to define that society. Swiss trains always run on time; indeed they run like clockwork. Denmark and the Danes could be regarded as tolerant, e… more

• THE FUTURE OF J.P.s IS THE END OF THE ROAD From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (6 days old)

  We are forever being assured by those in control that the institution of the magistracy will continue to be valued. What we are not told is the manner in which that value will be demonstrated. Whet… more

• ROAD TRAFFIC OFFENCES DEBATE From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (7 days old)

  At a time when the government has assigned police to conduct their own traffic prosecutions in newly designated dedicated traffic courts an interesting debate was yesterday held in the House of Common… more

• PENDULUM OF JUSTICE From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (8 days old)

  It has long been my opinion that many major decisions on cause/effect, what works/what doesn`t work, in judicial, police or social services areas of expertise are the very opposite of expertise; they … more

• HE LIKES IT, HE LIKES IT NOT From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (9 days old)

  I`m not the Home Secretary`s greatest fan but indicating today to an audience of police officers that the murder of one of their number will bring retribution of a whole life sentence is to be applaud… more

• WHAT A FINES` MESS WE`RE IN From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (9 days old)

  I first commented on the scandal of unpaid fines 22/02/2010. I last commented three years later on 25/02/2013 with a few more posts in between. Not so long ago I sat in the “means court” for the fi… more

• WHAT A GOOD IDEA! From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (11 days old)

  Remember the good old days when London had black cabs? Those were the days; none of the gaudiness of New York`s yellow monsters nor the assortment of transport taking passengers for suicide rides in … more

• GET OUT OF JAIL From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (13 days old)

  Under the government`s camouflage of obtaining value for money in our justice system many slices of salami have been removed from the roll of product pressed against the rotary blade of austerity. T… more

• ONLY A MISDEMEANOUR From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (15 days old)

  Spiked is an independent online phenomenon dedicated to raising the horizons of humanity by waging a culture war of words against misanthropy, priggishness, prejudice, luddism, illiberalism and irrati… more

• IT WON`T GO AWAY From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (16 days old)

  It never ceases to amaze me that people who for whatever reason do not accept a Fixed Penalty Notice for a motoring offence, fail to appear on a summons for trial, fail to plead not guilty by post and… more

• SHEEP SHAGGER//s.5 OFFENCE OR LAMPOON? From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (20 days old)

  Disregard the admitted drunkenness of the offender and consider the words “a bunch of sheep - shaggers”. Do they constitute an offence under s.5 of the Public Order Act? An English visitor to Wales … more

• PROBATION WORKERS` BIBLE OF COMMUNITY PAYBACK From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (21 days old)

  Generally this space is devoted to my opinions and observations some of which paradoxically have been both critical and praising of the probation service. Recently I stumbled upon what I suppose coul… more

• THE SCANDAL OF A COURT`S SECURITY From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (23 days old)

  When Justice Secretaries and Ministers want to show their toughness on crime they turn to knives: eg in January 2009 Labour Minister David Hanson M.P. announced that anyone convicted of a knife relat… more

• MUSINGS ON TUESDAY From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (24 days old)

  Sometimes there is such a surfeit of information and news that deciding which comments I might make are least likely to bore my reader is rather difficult. The musings which constitute today`s post … more

• BERWICK NEWSPAPER CONFUSES NEWS AND OPINION From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (25 days old)

  It is beyond dispute that the understanding of relatively simple mathematical concepts both in theory and practice has been shown to be beyond the ability of many people however well informed they ot… more

• LOUIS SUAREZ AND THAT BITE From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (28 days old)

  I am a football fan. I was about 11 years old when, along with two or three pals, I attended my first league game. Hail, rain or shine we enjoyed the freedom to shout our feelings from the terraces w… more

• UTILITY COMPANIES STILL DON`T GET IT From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (29 days old)

  Blog analytics show that among the most visited pages on this site by what I assume are non legally minded viewers are those concerning entry warrants by utility companies or, as often is the case, by… more

• HOWARD LEAGUE IS NOT QUITE PREMIERSHIP STANDARD IN THE STATISTICS LEAGUE From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (30 days old)

  The Howard League must have been rather pleased with itself at the coverage their latest “shock” news brought to local press country wide; headlined as a post code sentencing lottery a term first use… more

• BARRISTERS BARE THEIR TEETH AND BLOGS BLOG ON From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (31 days old)

  We`ve had two walk outs by unionised legal advisors in the last year. Now their brothers in arms on the northern circuit of the criminal bar have shown in no uncertain terms that their tolerance of t… more

• A little r `n r From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (37 days old)

  A few days r `n r for J.P. means a few days without updates. I`m off now!… more

• PROBATION`S (MIS) UNDERSTANDING OF SUSPENDED SENTENCE ORDER From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (37 days old)

  A recent sitting was in the breach court. I find the prosecution at my court to be of a high standard. All evidence seems to be available with the only chink in the armour a reliance on computer pri… more

• CPS CANNOT BE A WHIPPING BOY From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (39 days old)

  I doubt that many of my colleagues have not sat in court at 10.00am awaiting the appearance of a prosecutor of, or on behalf of, the CPS. I would also wager a tidy amount that many have wished to di… more

• THE PENDULUM SWINGS BUT NOT JUST YET From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (41 days old)

  It could be said that human beings can be divided into three types and that division could be applied to any number of our predilections. Physically there are the tall, the short and the medium. Psyc… more

• CAUTIONS, CAUTIONS AND MORE CAUTIONS//HAS JUSTICE BEEN LOST? From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (43 days old)

  This subject is becoming seriously heavy. I had intended today to recount an interesting although depressing experience at a court sitting not so long ago but the explosion of the Ministry of Justice… more

• CAUTIOUS ON CAUTIONS From TheJusticeofthePeace in The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog: (44 days old)

  Police cautions are currently a “hot” topic. A seemingly simple operation has apparently brought into conflict the Home Secretary (and therefore the police) The Secretary of State for Justice, the Ma… more

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