When will the people hear the constitutional alarm bells

More bulk enforcement centres. Less justice. Falconer rides roughshod over constitutional provisions. Not long before we have Judge Dredd on the streets.

Thugs, thieves and vandals to be let off with just a caution
by JAMES SLACK, Daily Mail
21:01pm 21st July 2006


Lord Falconer, the Lord Chancellor, said 30,000 fewer cases would reach the courts each year
Thirty thousand criminals, including thieves and knife-wielding thugs, currently punished by the courts are to escape with a caution instead.

The offenders are to benefit from Labour plans for a massive expansion in so-called 'summary justice', unveiled yesterday.

Instead of being taken to court, prosecutors will issue a 'conditional caution' for offences ranging from criminal damage, theft and affray, to carrying a knife, ABH and possession of drugs.
The maximum penalty will be a £500 fine, Other 'conditions' would be saying sorry to the victim, or buying them a box of chocolates.

Lord Falconer, the Lord Chancellor, said it would lead to 30,000 fewer cases reaching the courts each year.

Thousands more cases will be added to the scheme, as the Government eventually plans to extend it to under-18s. It means juveniles carrying blades could be let-off without going to court.

The conditional cautions count as a criminal record. But less serious juvenile offenders are to be let-off altogether, under yesterday's plans.

Many of the thousands who receive a caution each year from crimes such as criminal damage will simply be made to say 'sorry' to their victim instead. This will carry no criminal record.
Critics responded with fury to the idea of conditional cautioning for such a large number of criminals.

Conservative spokesman Oliver Heald said: “The proposal to let off 30,000 people with cautions is a desperate measure caused by the financial crisis in the Department for Constitutional Affairs, which has led to an eight per cent cut this year in the Courts Service budget.
'We wondered how Lord Falconer was going to make such drastic savings and now we know: it is by letting off 30,000 criminals per year.

Robert Whelan, deputy director of think-tank Civitas, said: “We should not be cautioning people charged with fairly serious offences, they need to go to court.
“Cautions are a joke, they are treated as a joke and count for nothing. The court is somewhere to show them the good guys are in charge and the bad guys are not. Even if by going to court they end up with a fine or community sentence, they still go through the process.”

The plan to let minor-juvenile offenders off if they say 'sorry', backed by the Youth Justice Board, also risks controversy. Campaigners will be unhappy if it is used for crimes such as theft or violence.
But it could also help to prevent a repeat of the farcical decision to prosecute a 10-year-old boy for alleged racist name-calling against his friend.

District Judge Jonathan Finestein attacked police and prosecutors for taking the case to court. But they argued they had had no option, because the youngster would not accept a caution and they had a duty to 'clear-up' the 'crime'.

Under the new rules, the case could have been closed simply by the youngster saying sorry to his friend. It would also bring an end to proesecutions for misdemeanours such as breaking tree branches while climbing, which is classed as criminal damage.

Lord Falconer said it will only be used for first-time, low-level offenders where a criminal record would be 'disproportionate'.

His Delivering Simple, Speedy, Summary Justice document said: “This is not about going soft on crime. A face-to-face apology is often quite difficult for a young person to do. Getting a young person to apologise face to face and make amends is an important part of their learning.”
The proposals make plain the Government, and Tony Blair in particular, have lost faith in the courts to deal with crimes quickly.
They demand fewer court hearings and less bureaucracy. Many pre-trial hearings - namely the 200,000 'mention' hearings a year - will be abolished.
The average number of pre-trial hearings will be cut from an average of six to two. 500,000 minor cases - TV licence-dodging and minor motoring offences such as 'no MOT' - will be removed from the courts and dealt with in a bulk processing centre instead.

Magistrates will be forced out into the community to hear cases at special sessions in town halls and community sentences. And they will be told some crimes - such as theft and domestic violence - should be dealt with in less than 72-hours.
Plans for police officers to issue instant Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (Asbos) were left out of the document.
But it hinted at possible moves in that direction by saying that more work would be done to agree 'simple and immediate responses' to low-level misbehaviour.
It confirmed plans, revealed by yesterday's Daily Mail, for drunks to be made to attend a 'responsible drinking' class instead of being given an £80 fine.