tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727871367480602637.post6843813159232626511..comments2023-07-10T10:57:18.522+01:00Comments on The Magistrates' Blog: De Haut en BasBystander http://www.blogger.com/profile/10211688955428527960noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727871367480602637.post-73890727892846836762012-05-19T00:27:40.599+01:002012-05-19T00:27:40.599+01:00I'd heard that rumour somewhere before.I'd heard that rumour somewhere before.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727871367480602637.post-24726224285367777392012-05-16T05:40:40.017+01:002012-05-16T05:40:40.017+01:00Does your experience of life suggest otherwise?Does your experience of life suggest otherwise?John Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11452247999156925669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727871367480602637.post-88400239321209261532012-05-14T15:43:16.513+01:002012-05-14T15:43:16.513+01:00Rumour has it that there will be another tranche o...Rumour has it that there will be another tranche of Magistrates' Court closures. Just three for the whole of Gtr Manchester is mentioned. Used to be 10, now 8.ObiterJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04544226917595022902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727871367480602637.post-65227656535578297292012-05-14T15:41:56.741+01:002012-05-14T15:41:56.741+01:00Rumour has it that there will be another tranche o...Rumour has it that there will be another tranche of Magistrates' Court closures. Just three for the whole of Gtr Manchester is mentioned. Used to be 10, now 8.ObiterJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04544226917595022902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727871367480602637.post-59682931637673715212012-05-14T09:55:56.364+01:002012-05-14T09:55:56.364+01:00Thankfully they are not laying of magistrates.
Ne...Thankfully they are not laying of magistrates.<br /><br />Next they might decide you can do more difficult cases and so you might not be sending as many people upstairs. Magistrates are cheaper than judges.Brendan Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13538841202231589012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727871367480602637.post-44999692491148705602012-05-14T08:31:39.215+01:002012-05-14T08:31:39.215+01:00I am sorry but my contempt for the MA frankly know...I am sorry but my contempt for the MA frankly knows no bounds. This is not about public recognition of the role of Magistrates. To be honest, I don't care a jot about whether Mr and Mrs Law Abiding Citizen knows what we do. I DO care about law breakers knowing about what we do...from the sharp end. <br /><br />Sitting in a featureless community hall is hardly the way to impress the gravity of the situation for someone facing criminal charges. And I am waiting to hear how the MA proposes we deal with matters which may require some sort of security down the local church hall with the ladies of the WI preparing the flowers for vicar... <br /><br />The MA (and by this I mean the Centre, not the local brances who on the whole do the best they can) insted of rolling over and sucking up to the latest Minister need to get out there and actually CAMPAIGN for their members. If they can't (or won't) do that then the membership with walk.SouthLondonJPnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727871367480602637.post-69157061675428567472012-05-11T14:18:20.252+01:002012-05-11T14:18:20.252+01:00The Times article summarises the findings of a rep...The Times article summarises the findings of a report that was commissioned to find out what the public thought about magistrates. Early on, it became apparent that many of the questions that the Panel had planned to ask needed to be dropped, because in general people know next to nothing about magistrates. The findings reflect the opinions gathered from consulting a wide range of court users and community groups, and are not MA policy, or even a blueprint for the future. Rather, they show that in these changing and truly uncertain times, the MA is taking the bull by the horns and looking at what more imaginative ways there might be of using magistrates (as in reviewing the use of OoCDs) rather than let short-termism, ignorance and expedience determine the future of this extraordinary institution. The opinions of those who comment here are as welcome, indeed especially so because of their evident interest, as those of everyone consulted to date. Let's have a real, open and informed debate.Man on the Village Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420025319687905046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727871367480602637.post-65475514607686831772012-05-11T11:28:40.551+01:002012-05-11T11:28:40.551+01:00The Government just cannot stop themselves from me...The Government just cannot stop themselves from messing up public services. In trying to make things more 'cost effective' or 'efficient' they end up with a bureaucratic, unworkable nightmare. They have done it to the health service. They are doing it to the police. Private sector management and policies does not work in the public sector. It is as simple as that.Brontosaurusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727871367480602637.post-67020739374899002212012-05-11T11:18:35.513+01:002012-05-11T11:18:35.513+01:00As usual it is knee-jerk reactions ill thought out...As usual it is knee-jerk reactions ill thought out that lead to more waste not savingsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727871367480602637.post-83013603080117409732012-05-11T10:14:43.607+01:002012-05-11T10:14:43.607+01:00So doing things on the cheap and badly is now stan...So doing things on the cheap and badly is now standard practice in business?Briarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06242731014996459484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727871367480602637.post-70134165441216075242012-05-11T09:06:31.078+01:002012-05-11T09:06:31.078+01:00Anon May 11TH I do got to MA meetings and have mad...Anon May 11TH I do got to MA meetings and have made several representations...go read the article in the Times they endorse and see how we'll be saving lots of money by sitting in community centres...yup, that one again.<br /><br />Sorry, the points made by Bystander only emphasise the limited effects of the MA in representing us.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727871367480602637.post-63880592976788865202012-05-11T02:34:05.848+01:002012-05-11T02:34:05.848+01:00The underhanded attack on magistrates expenses was...The underhanded attack on magistrates expenses was dealt a tasty undercut by the combined efforts of individual JP's contacting their MP's & the efforts of the MA. Never underestimate that! The MA are the magistrates - don't undermine them, you are walking into the classic management tool of devide & rule. If you are unhappy with the route the MA is taking then go to your branch meetings & become involved!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727871367480602637.post-63593860918409600502012-05-10T22:10:43.806+01:002012-05-10T22:10:43.806+01:00And the responsibility for ensuring that listing a...And the responsibility for ensuring that listing arrangements are rationalised to ensure minimum expenditure falls on Bench Chairmen, if I have read the letter correctly, which is quite some responsibility (even for someone as capable as BS).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727871367480602637.post-44031747947207539442012-05-10T19:04:01.461+01:002012-05-10T19:04:01.461+01:00Being a consultant, it's the same in companies...Being a consultant, it's the same in companies. A far-flung executive will issue a directive with the 'I've told you what to do, find a way to do it attitude'.<br /><br />Also...<br /><br />How long before a civil servant looks over the basic case facts and allocates a maximum time to the hearing?<br /><br />It could happen.VBWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01538273773504183218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727871367480602637.post-77106808125578606152012-05-10T15:15:24.344+01:002012-05-10T15:15:24.344+01:00little or no time for people taking over from the ...<i>little or no time for people taking over from the outgoing staff to work alongside them</i><br /><br />Standard practice, in the U.S. at least. The only exceptions I know of are restaurants, where it is common for new employees to "trail" existing ones.<br /><br /><i>no replacements are allowed for sick leave maternity leave and holidays</i><br /><br />Also standard practice.John Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11452247999156925669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727871367480602637.post-91885607283913186802012-05-10T14:31:14.780+01:002012-05-10T14:31:14.780+01:00As the coalition government continues to advocate ...As the coalition government continues to advocate localism, its own Ministry of Justice continues to go in the opposite direction. Like Bystander's friend, I am a Buckinghamshire JP who faces a 100-mile, four-hour round trip to High Wycombe if called on to attend there, instead of my local courthouse at Aylesbury. Bucks is a long, long county, and if I should go to Wycombe, I am sitting with people I don't know in an area I don't know, which makes traffic cases that much harder on which to sit in judgement. <br /><br />That same Ministry is about to suggest out-of-hours single-magistrate hearings in local community centres and police stations to get cases concluded faster (whatever happened to CJSSS and SDJ?), emphasising the need for local justice. So where's the logic in all this?northbucksJPnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727871367480602637.post-3399460619286139222012-05-10T14:06:18.464+01:002012-05-10T14:06:18.464+01:00The penny can't actually drop; it's alread...The penny can't actually drop; it's already been cut from the budget.Ian Hurdleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17322290011259357106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727871367480602637.post-2061411601997018412012-05-10T13:42:32.505+01:002012-05-10T13:42:32.505+01:00Now, call me cynical....go on...but isn't this...Now, call me cynical....go on...but isn't this the usual way of getting rid of employees? <br /><br />Job's still there if you travel but if you don't like it we quite understand and here's your P45...<br /><br />The thing is DJs do travel and are flexible so we need to match it.<br /><br />We all knew the cost savings were nonsense from the start which is why HMCTS couldn't answer the questions. And we all know JLOs are struggling to cope. Mind you, the workload is mysteriously dropping close to the Olympics.<br /><br />Another agenda is on the cards...in the corridors of febrile power. Assisted by the MA shifting us into community centres.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727871367480602637.post-65317986428923029012012-05-10T13:19:56.065+01:002012-05-10T13:19:56.065+01:00"the costs will be found to be unjustifiable ..."the costs will be found to be unjustifiable as well as unnecessary"<br /><br />At which point a penny-pincher at HM Treasury will point out that JPs volunteer to serve, and therefore, presumably, will be more than willing to fund all these travelling expenses themselves (or see blokes they know to be burglars etc. hanging round just waitying for the house to be empty, because there wasn't a JP to bang them up). HM Treasury staff, of course, know how *legitimately*, I emphasise) to set off burglar alarm provision against tax.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727871367480602637.post-34530233908029014832012-05-10T12:40:08.878+01:002012-05-10T12:40:08.878+01:00Much too sanguine and charitable in your comments ...Much too sanguine and charitable in your comments about the new arrangements Bystander. Before these changes the system was an administrative farce. Now it's a disgrace as well as a farce. I've served as a JP for 8 years and only now do I fully understand what 'public service' is - trying to do your best in the face of a bureaucracy (HMCTS) determined to make it as difficult as possible for you at every turn. The MoJ / HMCTS drive to convert volunteer magistrates into unpaid civil servants continues to gather momentum.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com