I make no apologies for this post being somewhat off topic. It has rarely happened previously and will probably be a long time happening again but as a child brought up in a slum tenement whose parents graduated to a council estate in the 1950s I am angry.
The meaning of the word "honour" as understood in this country is of diminishing use. More often or not it is employed antonymically by those involved to describe the killing of a south Asian or middle eastern spouse or relative by a close family member. Except for those of the most absurd politically correct persuasion who seem to use the argument of acceptance of certain cultural difference, the above is regarded as a crime of heinous barbarity. Duelling as a mark of a man`s honour lost its favour over 200 years ago. In public service honour in England, at least by public servants, would be seen as an admission of responsibility for failure and resignation from said public position would or should have followed. A clear example in recent history was the resignation of Lord Carrington from Margaret Thatcher`s cabinet over his perceived failings prior to the Falklands war. Such pubic acts of contrition, sadly, are now increasingly uncommon. Honour, once the epitome of the English alongside the stiff upper lip is now just historical folklore.
On 26th May I commented on the refusal of the Scottish Police Authority chair Andrew Flanagan to resign after revelations of his reprehensible activities as a senior public figure. On 14th June he finally resigned. The dreadful disaster of Grenfell Tower has been succeeded by reports of Kensington and Chelsea Council`s actions prior to the fire and the non activities of its senior members subsequently. In the old days when the Labour Party consisted to a certain extent of socially responsible leaders and local councils were responsible for the governance of the citizens in their patch by the ownership of assets and the direct employment of workers to service those assets responsibility was clearly identifiable. In the Grenfell tragedy we are gradually hearing of how the buck has been and is travelling like a pass the parcel game combined with musical chairs. Finally a week later the CEO of the council has resigned.
What is in the minds of such people as he? They accept the lavish salary and perks yet are unwilling to accept the consequences of their mismanagement. Those responsible for the legal contract of employment of highly placed public officials are also to blame for not ensuring that council tax payers are not landed with the bill to be paid for the incompetence of such employees.
Whether within local councils, the judiciary, the police, the civil service or the armed forces the blanket of financial protection around the incompetents who are ensconced should be withdrawn and the sooner the better by a Tory government. I am all for economic liberalism and a safety net for those at the lower end of the income scale but the likes of Nicholas Holgate should be out on their ear without a penny of compensation.
Revolutionising summary justice – an update on the Single Justice Procedure
[English] - [Cymraeg]
Hello, my name is Mike Logan and I work in HM Courts and Tribunals’ Development Directorate. I would like to share with you an update on the implementation of the Single Justice Procedure (SJP) which is the means by which work is processed within the Single Justice Service (SJS).
What is Single Justice Service
A key part of the reform of courts work. SJS will contain all services delivered by the magistrates’ court which can be considered by a single magistrate. As well as SJP it will include applications and the digital services which support these including Automated Track Case Management (ATCM); online plea; and the Applications Register.What is Single Justice Procedure
A legislative change in the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 allowed for a single magistrate to deal with adult summary-only, non-imprisonable offences for “guilty” pleas and “proof in absence” cases. They sit with a legal advisor outside of a court room without the defendant or prosecutor being present, for cases such as speeding, vehicle excise duty and fare evasion. These cases account for about 850,000 of the total cases per annum.This change links closely with the successful rollout of the online plea service for traffic offences, which is also live across the country. SJP went live in April 2015 at Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court which was an early adopter and a prototype for the new procedure in London for the Metropolitan Police Service, DVLA and Transport for London cases. In April 2016, a Statutory Instrument was laid to extend the use of SJP to other prosecutors such as TV Licensing, the Environment Agency, train operating companies and local authorities.
Stakeholder and user engagement is vital
Implementation has been managed through a cross-agency Single Justice Procedure Steering Group which I chair. All of the national prosecutors including the police, DVLA and TV Licensing are represented along with HMCTS Regional Leads. The Group has done a huge amount of work with the support of MoJ Digital User Experience colleagues from developing the new SJP Notice which is sent to the defendant, to agreeing a national SJP Protocol outlining the key business processes to be followed by all agencies.There were a number of challenges to overcome, such as dealing with 43 individual police forces and their different IT systems and requirements. However, by devoting time to build excellent working relationships with colleagues from the police and prosecution agencies at the outset, we ensured implementation has been kept on course.
This steering group is shortly to be replaced by an operational working group which will monitor progress and future developments of SJP and online plea.
Current Position
The national picture on implementation is really positive. SJP is now live in 57 Magistrates Courts across England and Wales. Between its inception in April 2015 and April 2017 the number of cases dealt with using SJP numbered 667,168 of which 599,921 were disposed of. All 43 police forces are now live. DVLA and TV Licencing (TVL) are now live in all HMCTS Regions. We also have local authorities and train operating companies using the new procedure. SJP has generally been well received by magistrates, prosecutors and court staff. Prosecutors have reported benefits from not having to attend court as often to increased productivity.Latest Developments
ATCM is the new end to end digital service that will process SJP work. ATCM, through the prosecutor portal enables prosecutors to directly upload their SJP cases onto the system. It provides an interface for legal advisors to access and record decisions for SJP cases, notify parties of decisions made and generate orders and notices.The product has initially been developed as a pilot in conjunction with Transport for London. The first SJP session was held in Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court on 12 May 2017, with two more following in quick succession.
Discovery work has started with TVL and DVLA to extend ATCM to their cases. Initial discussions are also being had with police in order to start preparations for including traffic cases.