As a presiding magistrate I am only too aware that I have to
think carefully in making any off the cuff remarks in court and there are many opportunities
and occasions when such remarks are necessary.
Each occasion offers the possibility of going off piste to such a degree
that it is not unlikely that somebody or other will find cause to
complain. Indeed within the confines of
the court building a three second speech delay as in the Radio 1 presenters` handbook
for beginners is a required tool for a J.P. in this most politically correct arena. All this leads me to the remarks made by HH Judge
David Hale at Mold Crown Court. The
usual brief court report is no basis for undue criticism but if His Honour`s
remarks had been about eg a Pakistani immigrant and not a Polish one or another ethnic or national group member I venture to suggest that there would have
been a possibility of these remarks reaching a wider audience.
I am not unconcerned that we as Justices of the Peace seem
to be held to higher standards of
behaviour than our senior professional colleagues by those who oversee our conduct. Perhaps my antennae are over sensitive or
perhaps as lay magistrates we are more inclined to retain some facets of that
ordinary fellow on the Clapham omnibus from which personality pool we are
appointed.
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