tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187043.post116991855461501749..comments2024-03-29T09:13:55.008+00:00Comments on UK Commentators: Naught For Your Comfort ... AgainLabanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12031578024191117985noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187043.post-1170008096386026782007-01-28T18:14:00.000+00:002007-01-28T18:14:00.000+00:00Laban"Young people apparently need encouragment to...Laban<BR/><BR/>"Young people apparently need encouragment to masturbate."<BR/><BR/>This demographic crisis could be worse than we think....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187043.post-1170004555213636702007-01-28T17:15:00.000+00:002007-01-28T17:15:00.000+00:00"But they don't want the legal system to work more..."But they don't want the legal system to work more efficently otherwise many of their lawyer friends would be out of a job, and thats not going down well at the next wine party."<BR/><BR/>I take your point, but, to be fair, the kind of lawyers who do Magistrates' Courts work, and who would be affected if those courts actually worked properly, are unlikely to be the kind of lawyers who go to wine parties. They're usually either very junior barristers, or solicitors at legal aid firms. They don't tend to earn a great deal.<BR/><BR/>The wine party lawyers are more likely to be senior barristers doing human rights work, funded by grossly excessive legal aid payouts. Cherie Blair would be a prime example. Making the Magistrates' Courts more efficient would not harm her at all. To deal with her ilk, we need to reform the legal aid system, so that it is much more difficult to get access to legal aid. At present, when Muslims can get legal aid to sue their daughter's school for making her wear school uniform, access to legal aid is clearly too easy. <BR/><BR/>I think that the problems at the lower end of the legal system can be attributed not so much to a deliberate attempt to provide work for lawyers, but simply to the stupidity of liberal magistrates, abetted by foolish directions from senior figures in the legal system.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187043.post-1169993533543649002007-01-28T14:12:00.000+00:002007-01-28T14:12:00.000+00:00Good riddance. I watched this clown on the BBC spw...Good riddance. I watched this clown on the BBC spweing his liberal rubbish. No one bothered to challenge him of course. The man is a fool and we are well rid of him.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187043.post-1169985996277470942007-01-28T12:06:00.000+00:002007-01-28T12:06:00.000+00:00That Ealing magistrate isn't exactly "Mr. Fang", i...That Ealing magistrate isn't exactly "Mr. Fang", is he?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187043.post-1169984261597687762007-01-28T11:37:00.000+00:002007-01-28T11:37:00.000+00:00Rod Morgan may well have done an appalling job; I ...Rod Morgan may well have done an appalling job; I hadn't heard of him unil late this week. He is a dreamboat though.Jasper Goodballoonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10846671552702431499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187043.post-1169938869512293232007-01-27T23:01:00.000+00:002007-01-27T23:01:00.000+00:00But they don't want the legal system to work more ...But they don't want the legal system to work more efficently otherwise many of their lawyer friends would be out of a job, and thats not going down well at the next wine party.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187043.post-1169931868350394962007-01-27T21:04:00.000+00:002007-01-27T21:04:00.000+00:00"Throughout his years of research, he worked as a ..."Throughout his years of research, he worked as a lay magistrate and chairman of a youth court."<BR/><BR/>Anyone who has had any professional dealings with the Magistrates' Courts will tell you that the lay magistrates are notoriously out-of-touch. They tend to be well meaning, middle class do-gooders, and are generally pretty gullible - they'll believe whatever sob story the poor criminal (or 'victim of society', as they are now known) comes out with. I once spoke with a social worker (of a slightly tougher disposition than the Guardian-reader stereotype) who had been involved in bringing a mother to court for constantly allowing her children to play truant. The mother, an utterly unfit parent, came out with the requisite sob story, and the magistrates turned on the social workers, demanding to know why they hadn't helped the woman to control her own children. This is a quite typical example of the attitude of lay magistrates. <BR/><BR/>I think that a lot of crime in this country could be reduced were Magistrates' and Youth Courts a bit more intimidating, and a lot tougher on the criminal. As it is, they are designed to be "user-friendly", and for habitual offenders it is no more unnerving going before the magistrates than it is going to collect one's benefits. A bit of oak-panelling, wigs and gowns, and, most importantly, a real prospect of real punishment would, I believe, intimidate many of these people into going straight, thereby removing many of the petty scum - muggers, shoplifters, etc - that clog up the legal system.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com