Magistrates warn police could misuse new driving fines

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Magistrates warn police could misuse new driving fines

 

Officers cannot be relied upon to use new on-the-spot fines appropriately, Magistrates' Association tells government

 

 

 

New on-the-spot fines for careless driving will be misused by police officers entrusted with applying them, magistrates have warned.

 

The Magistrates' Association spoke out in response to a Department of Transport consultation on proposed road safety measures, including powers to impose £60 fixed penalties and three points on the licences of motorists who admit careless driving.

 

"Regrettably, recent experience with out-of-court disposals shows that the police cannot be relied on to use them appropriately or as intended," said Chris Hunt Cooke, chairman of the association's road traffic committee.

 

"Once they have been given these powers, the police will misuse them, that is a certainty, and careless driving will be generally treated as a minor offence, unless serious injury is involved. This is a proposal that places the convenience of the police above what is right in principle, may coerce innocent drivers into accepting a fixed penalty, and is certain generally to downgrade careless driving in terms of offence seriousness."

 

Hunt Cooke said officers would inevitably opt for the "simplicity" of issuing a fixed penalty over the "heavy burden" of taking the matter to court, whatever the degree of careless driving involved.

 

Alun Michael, a Labour member of the Commons justice committee and a former policing minister, accused the Magistrates' Association of "grandstanding" over the issue.

 

"It is an issue but it is not a cataclysmic case for a major division between the magistrates and the police," he told the Daily Telegraph.

 

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "Making careless driving a fixed penalty offence would help the police to enforce against bad drivers who admit fault with a minimum of bureaucracy, freeing up police resources. But all drivers would always have the option to contest their case in court and we would work with the police and the courts to develop guidance to ensure that cases are handled correctly."

 

Police chiefs claim on-the-spot punishments free up officers to tackle more serious offences by reducing paperwork and time spent in court.

 

In 2004, powers to issue fixed penalties were introduced for low-level offences, including being drunk and disorderly and shoplifting. The British Retail Consortium has said on-the-spot fines encourage persistent shoplifters who know they will face "no serious sanction" if caught.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/au...e-driving-fines

 

 

Magistrates object to on-the-spot driving fines plan

 

Concern that fixed-penalty fines will make police 'jury and sentencer'

 

 

 

A Police Officer issuing an on-the-spot fine. Photograph: Chris Young/PA

 

Transport ministers are expected to press ahead with plans to allow the police to issue fixed penalty fines for careless driving offences, despite objections from magistrates today about the rise of "out of court justice".

 

The proposal would mean motorists guilty of minor careless driving offences being issued with a £60 fine and three penalty points on their licence. At a magistrates court the maximum penalties would be a £5,000 fine and nine penalty points.

 

The Association of Chief Police Officers says it intends to issue strong guidance on the dividing line between minor careless driving offences, when an on-the-spot fine should be issued, and more serious cases which should go to court.

 

John Thornhill, the Magistrates' Association chairman, said that recent years had seen a rapid rise in the use of "out of court" justice. In 2003, 68% of all criminal cases were decided by the courts, but this had fallen to only 48% by 2007.

 

"We have been investigating the use of out-of-court disposals, on-the-spot fines, for the last 12 months, and the evidence we have suggests that on many occasions where the matter is serious police go for the easy option of the on-the-spot fine, because it is done and dusted, dealt with there and then," said Thornhill.

 

"What this is doing is turning the police into jury and sentencer. Many of the police actually don't want to do this, because they believe it's more important that an independent tribunal which is not fettered by financial considerations or targets makes that decision."

 

But both the Department for Transport and the Association of Chief Police Officers defended the proposal.

 

The DfT said that making careless driving a fixed-penalty offence would help the police enforce the law against bad drivers who admit fault with a minimum of bureaucracy. "But all drivers would have the option to contest their case in court and we would work with the police and the courts to develop guidance to ensure that cases are handled correctly."

 

Transport ministers will announce their decision later this year. "We are considering all consultation responses and will make an announcement later this year," the department said.

 

Transport officials argue that the current regime has led to a very low level of enforcement of the law on careless driving compared to the number of deaths involved.

 

They cite figures for 2006 which show there were only 28,900 convictions for careless or dangerous driving, which caused 480 deaths. Most were sent on driver education courses.

 

By comparison there were 92,700 convictions for drink driving, which was responsible for 540 deaths. They argue that fixed penalty fines would sharply increase the level of police action against habitually bad drivers.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/aug/18/driving-fines-plan

[AgentAxeman 199]

Getting closer and closer to the police state!

[Rob W 0]

could have been entitled "magistrates try to hold onto jobs" TBH

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Repeat and serious offenders are escaping court with on-the-spot fines

Repeat and serious offenders are escaping court because police just hand out a string of on-the-spot fines for easy convictions, magistrates have warned.

 

 

By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor

Published: 7:00AM BST 19 Aug 2009

 

In one case a thief was given 12 separate fixed penalties for shoplifting instead of being taken to court despite being a persistent criminal, John Thornhill, the chairman of the Magistrates’ Association disclosed.

 

In another, a suspect caught in possession of a firearm was given a fine, even though he was on bail from court for the same offence.

And a man who glassed a victim in a pub, leaving him with six stitches and a night in hospital, was also handed a fine and not taken to court.

 

The alarming trend emerged as rank and file police said the growth in out of court disposals is failing the public and “dumbing down” the criminal justice system.

 

The row over fixed penalties deepened after The Daily Telegraph disclosed magistrates do not believe the police can be trusted to hand out summary justice.

 

In an extraordinary attack, the Magistrates’ Association said it is a “certainty” that officers will misuse powers because they cannot be “relied on” to handle them appropriately.

 

Mr Thornhill said more than half of all criminal matters are dealt with by out of court punishments, such as fines, cautions and formal warnings, but half of all on the spot fines are not paid on time and end up in court anyway.

 

He said: “There is inconsistency of the use, there is inappropriate use of these and that is something we are concerned about.

 

“All these out of court disposals, there is no public scrutiny and the mantra the Government uses that justice must not only be done but seen to be done is not seen to be done

 

“We have been investigating the use of out of court disposals, on-the-spot-fines for the last 12 months, and the evidence we have suggests that on many occasions, where the matter is serious police go for the easy option of the on-the-spot fine, because it's done and dusted, dealt with there and then.

 

"What this is doing is turning the police into jury and sentencer.

"And many of the police actually don't want to do this, because they believe it's more important that an independent tribunal which is not fettered by financial considerations or targets makes that decision."

 

The president-elect of the Police Superintendents' Association, Chief Superintendent Derek Barnett, angrily accused the magistrates of impugning the integrity and professionalism of the police service with the claims.

 

''I think that it is an extraordinary thing to say that police officers cannot be trusted and it is a certainty that officers will misuse their powers,'' he told BBC Radio 4's The World at One.

 

''I was hoping that the Magistrates' Association might have been misquoted on this because police officers rely on the magistrates to act in an impartial manner and exercise their good judgment.

 

''Frankly, it is amazing and disappointing that they should be so stereotypical about police officers and impugn their professionalism, their judgment, and their integrity.''

 

Simon Reed, vice-chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said he wasn’t against fixed penalties in principle but officers must have the discretion to decide.

 

“Regrettably though, over the last decade we have seen a government obsessed with creating more and more out of court disposals, increasing pressure on front line officers to opt for this solution which not only fails the public but results in a ‘dumbing down’ of the criminal justice system.”

 

The latest row was sparked as the Government plans to allow police to issue £60 fixed penalties for careless driving.

 

Magistrates are worried that the number of offences now dealt with in this way is keeping some serious offenders out of the courts.

 

However, police leaders insisted that the use of the fines, which has risen sharply under Labour, helped to reduce paperwork and free up officers’ time.

 

It has left two of the key bodies responsible for tackling crime and administering justice at loggerheads.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics...spot-fines.html

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could have been entitled "magistrates try to hold onto jobs" TBH

 

 

You think the courts have no place in the British justice system?

 

The more power you put into the polices hands directly the more you undermine the checks and balances.

 

 

 

As can be seen when police are allowed to hand out "on the spot beatings".

[Rob W 0]

No - but this one is so obviously special pleading.... the Magistrates always bang on about how busy they are and how the courts are cluttered up with "trivial" cases

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No - but this one is so obviously special pleading.... the Magistrates always bang on about how busy they are and how the courts are cluttered up with "trivial" cases

 

The whole point here (and indeed in the research into the effect of instant fines) is that quite serious cases get given the on the spot fine as it's easier and more certain.

 

Thus removing what little justice there is in the justice system.

[sniffer 0]

In my experience, the system of on the spot brib....err fines seems to work in Mexico.

 

I've never yet had to make a court appearance.

[Rob W 0]

In my experience, the system of on the spot brib....err fines seems to work in Mexico.

 

I've never yet had to make a court appearance.

 

 

My Mrs had to explain in some detail the system of "on the spot fines" to the traffic police in Jakarta but they eventually they agreed that indeed they had that system and issued her with a receipt for her "fine"