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Thread ID: 3480 | Posts: 2 | Started: 2002-11-11
2002-11-11 21:54 | User Profile
Blair Seeks Criminal Justice Changes
By JANE WARDELL Associated Press Writer
November 10, 2002, 2:47 PM EST
LONDON -- Britain will scrap its legal protection against double jeopardy and make tougher sentences available to magistrates as part of a major overhaul of the country's criminal justice system, Prime Minister Tony Blair said in a newspaper article published Sunday.
Writing in The Observer, Blair also outlined plans to allow details of a defendant's previous convictions to be heard in court and for the imposition of on-the-spot fines for anti-social behavior, such as public drunkenness.
Blair said the changes to the justice system were intended to redress an imbalance that favored criminals instead of the victims of crime. Protection against double jeopardy forbids authorities for bringing new, but identical charges against a defendant who has been acquitted of a serious crime.
"We are pursuing radical reform of the criminal justice system, tackling anti-social behavior and restoring social cohesion to fragmented communities," Blair wrote.
"In today's world, people want a society that is free from prejudice -- racism and intolerance -- but not free from rules."-
Blair said the radical reform of police and court procedures would take precedence in Wednesday's speech by Queen Elizabeth II in parliament. The speech by the queen is the traditional method for outlining the government's policies for the coming parliamentary year.
Blair said Britons did not feel safe from crime and acknowledged that the justice system "is not yet working as it should" and punishments often do not match the severity of the crime.
ritain had a "nineteenth-century criminal justice system trying to solve 21st century crimes," with cumbersome court procedures and little cooperation between police and lawyers, he said.
Lawyers and civil liberties groups said the proposals were misguided and could lead to more innocent people being jailed.
"The idea that reducing the rights of defendants benefits the victims of crime is fundamentally flawed," the Bar Council, Liberty Legal Action Group, and the Criminal Bar Association said in a joint statement.
"This approach is also unhelpful because it detracts from serious debate about improving justice and is likely to undermine, or even wholly remove, vital checks and balances."
The joint statement said the proposal to allow juries to hear details of previous convictions could have a prejudicial effect on a trial and the removal of the double jeopardy rule presented "overwhelming practical difficulties," as juries would almost certainly be aware that the Court of Appeal had decided that there was compelling new evidence.
Other measures proposed by Blair include treatment for every drug-addicted prisoner, fines for parents who allow their children to skip school and penalties for anti-social behavior.
Blair denied that his Labor Government was following a right-wing agenda by cracking down on crime.
"However much schools and hospitals improve, if people walk out of their doors and are confronted by abuse, vandalism, anti-social behavior, they will never feel secure or able to take advantage of new opportunities," he said.
Copyright é 2002, The Associated Press
url: [url=http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-britain-crime1110nov10,0,5318929.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dworld%2Dheadlines]http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wo...rld%2Dheadlines[/url]
2002-11-12 00:55 | User Profile
Faust,
Heard that on the Alex Jones program today. Only one more year in the UK for our daughter. With events being what they are, that is too long.
Posted to my group the bus posters on the Big Brother eye. When we rented the apartment two months ago, the Indian landlord said how safe the neighborhood was with all the cameras around the neighborhood.
Few of our UK friends understand Liberty. They recognize their problems with immigrantion, but do nothing to change policy. Only foreigner do the work anymore.
The father of a former business associate, was a judge on the High Court (= to SC). His views on individual rights was how can we control them. His background would not surprise you.
While London is still a great city (to the degree that there is any worth in large cities) the culture is being systematically destroyed.
No surprise that Communism originated under the Crown.
SARTRE :ph34r: