Friday, September 29, 2006
Forces of consevatism! Again!
The Times reports here on Blair's latest battle - with the Courts.
Apparently: "... the antiquated criminal courts as one of the last unreconstructed areas of the public sector." Personally I've never thought of the courts as part of the public sector, and have always thought a separation of powers to be most desireable. Notice use of the language "antiquated" and "unreconstructed" not exactly the same as "forces of conservatism", but you get the idea.
Of course he has to back it up so we're told: "Six out of ten people believe that the criminal justice system is ineffective in bringing offenders to book and four in ten say it does not treat people who come forward as witnesses well."
Well what a surprise, first he neuters a system he doesn't like then says the public aren't happy with how it's "working". Well it can't work properly can it? How about some proper punishments including real prison terms, capital and corporal punishment?
Let's see what is proposed: "... taking a swath of offences out of the courts altogether and dealing with them by measures such as penalty notices or conditional cautions." Oh what a surprise, I'm sure the public will be pleased with these effective measures, let's look at some more detail: "If the offender agrees, he or she can be cautioned and given a condition, such as undergoing treatment or apologising." Oh my how tough: "I'm so sorry, I won't do it again".
There's more: "Another measure is the fixed penalty, which can be imposed with no admission of guilt. The recipient can then decide whether to contest it." This is far more insidious although The Times unsurprisingly for the MSM fails to point it out; basically you'll be issued with a fine by a bureacratic type, and you can either pay it or contest it. If you contest it you'll have to fight tooth and nail all the way and it'll probably cost you a fortune. It's just a cash cow.
Finally something for me to be aware of: "... bulk processing of TV licence offences" of course I have no TV or licence, but I'd wager I get caught up in this "bulk processing".
Apparently: "... the antiquated criminal courts as one of the last unreconstructed areas of the public sector." Personally I've never thought of the courts as part of the public sector, and have always thought a separation of powers to be most desireable. Notice use of the language "antiquated" and "unreconstructed" not exactly the same as "forces of conservatism", but you get the idea.
Of course he has to back it up so we're told: "Six out of ten people believe that the criminal justice system is ineffective in bringing offenders to book and four in ten say it does not treat people who come forward as witnesses well."
Well what a surprise, first he neuters a system he doesn't like then says the public aren't happy with how it's "working". Well it can't work properly can it? How about some proper punishments including real prison terms, capital and corporal punishment?
Let's see what is proposed: "... taking a swath of offences out of the courts altogether and dealing with them by measures such as penalty notices or conditional cautions." Oh what a surprise, I'm sure the public will be pleased with these effective measures, let's look at some more detail: "If the offender agrees, he or she can be cautioned and given a condition, such as undergoing treatment or apologising." Oh my how tough: "I'm so sorry, I won't do it again".
There's more: "Another measure is the fixed penalty, which can be imposed with no admission of guilt. The recipient can then decide whether to contest it." This is far more insidious although The Times unsurprisingly for the MSM fails to point it out; basically you'll be issued with a fine by a bureacratic type, and you can either pay it or contest it. If you contest it you'll have to fight tooth and nail all the way and it'll probably cost you a fortune. It's just a cash cow.
Finally something for me to be aware of: "... bulk processing of TV licence offences" of course I have no TV or licence, but I'd wager I get caught up in this "bulk processing".
Tags: ZaNuLabour, courts, rights, justice
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.
