Middlesbrough Cleveland PCC: The Empire of Evil

Judge bans magistrates from standing as police commissioners
The upcoming election of police commissioners has been thrown into confusion
after a senior judge declared that magistrates could not stand for the new role.
By Martin Beckford, Home Affairs Editor
6:00PM BST 09 Aug 2012
In an unexpected move, Lord Justice Goldring said it would be wrong for members of the judiciary to have a role in determining police force plans and leadership.
The Senior Presiding Judge ordered JPs to resign “immediately” if they planned to run for the new post of Police and Crime Commissioner, and warned them against highlighting their former roles in campaign materials.
He also said that magistrates should not join Police and Crime Panels that are being set up to scrutinise PCCs, and that they should take leave of absence from the bench if they want to campaign for others and so avoid “bringing the judiciary into disrepute”.
It is the latest blow to the Conservatives’ flagship criminal justice policy, which is intended to make the police more accountable to citizens. PCCs, who will be paid up to £100,000 a year, will set local forces’ strategies and have the power to hire and fire chief constables.

Lack of public interest and campaign funding, together with opposition from many in the police, has raised fears that turnout in the elections will be low and may even let in extremists.

Strict rules that ban anyone from standing if they have a conviction for an imprisonable offence have also put paid to the ambitions of several hopefuls, including the Falklands War hero Simon Weston.

Many of the remaining candidates are former MPs and councillors, raising concerns that independents will be squeezed out and voters will see it as just a way for familiar old faces to get back on the gravy train.

In a circular sent to fellow judges last month, but not made public until it was highlighted by the website Top of the Cops, Lord Justice Goldring wrote: “Although not disqualified by statute, I have decided that it is not permissible for magistrates to stand for election as PCCs.
“Magistrates who wish to stand for election, upon announcement of their intention to do so, should resign immediately.
“During the election campaign, former magistrates should be highly circumspect when describing their bench careers.”
His comments have caused astonishment, not least because the law that went through Parliament to create the new roles did not include any such restrictions on magistrates.
In addition, many JPs already hold political roles that involve policing matters, as councillors and even MPs. Magistrates also sit on police authorities, which are being replaced by PCCs.
And the timing of the judge’s pronouncement has thrown into disarray campaigns in several of the 41 police areas of England and Wales because several prospective PCCs, including at least four Conservatives, are sitting magistrates.
Craig Mackinlay, the Tory candidate for Kent, sits on the bench and described the ruling as “unacceptable and nonsensical”.
Julie Iles, a magistrate standing in Surrey, said she was "saddened" by having to step down as a JP and said it was "bizarre" when magistrates sat on police authorities.
The Local Government Association, the umbrella group for councils, also criticised the late decision.
Cllr Mehboob Khan, Chairman of the LGA's Safer and Stronger Communities Board, said: “Magistrates have long played a role in holding chief constables to account, setting police budgets, and deciding local policing priorities.
“Parliament took the view that magistrates could stand for election as commissioners and we would question why the Senior Presiding Judge has decided differently.
“It is unclear what conflict of interests would prevent magistrates from serving on police and crime panels.
“A number of councillors are also magistrates and they have been able to challenge the police and police authorities through local crime and disorder scrutiny committees. To now say they can't serve on panels is nonsensical.”
A Home Office spokesman admitted: “There is nothing in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act to prevent a magistrate from either standing or serving as a PCC, or a Police and Crime Panel member.”
But he added: “It is for the judiciary to decide who may and may not be a magistrate.”
A spokesperson for the Judicial Office said: “Any judicial office holder must be, and be perceived to be, independent. A magistrate is as much a judicial office holder as a salaried judge.
“Holding political office with personal and direct accountability for the performance of the police is not compatible with the role of a magistrate.
“To be both accountable for the performance of that force and sit as an independent judge trying cases brought by that force is incompatible. The wider role in respect of victims makes it even more problematical.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... oners.html