Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Scottish Government urged to give more powers to Judicial Complaints Reviewer as MSPs hear lack of judicial scrutiny undermines public confidence in justice system

Moi Ali Scottish Parliament Petitions CommitteeMore powers needed to scrutinise judges, says independent judicial reviewer Moi Ali. FOLLOWING evidence heard by MSPs at the Scottish Parliament last week of multiple failures of Scottish judges to recuse themselves from cases or declare their interests, the Scottish Government has now been urged to give more powers to Moi Ali, Scotland’s independent Judicial Complaints Reviewer (JCR) in an effort to bring Scotland into line with the rest of the UK where legislation requires a much higher level of judicial scrutiny regarding complaints made against judges.

Last week at the Scottish Parliament, JCR Moi Ali faced questions from MSPs on proposals to bring transparency to Scotland’s judiciary, contained in  Petition PE1458: Register of Interests for members of Scotland's judiciary

Moi Ali told MSP members of the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee that a lack of statutory powers for the Judicial Complaints Reviewer effectively meant there was little point to the role of JCR as no enforceable action can be taken if it is found judges have failed to properly or impartially investigate their own colleagues as a result of complaints from the public.

Currently, if someone who has made a complaint about a judge is not satisfied with how the Judicial Office for Scotland handled their complaint, they can ask the independent Judicial Complaints Reviewer to review how their case was handled. However, the JCR cannot take any action if  fault is found in how judges investigated their colleagues as the JCR has no powers by design of legislation.

The weakness of the JCR’s role is highlighted in Section 30, S31 and S32 of the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008 where it is clear the overbearing insistence on, and requirement of consultation with the Lord President & judiciary regarding the status of the Judicial Complaints Reviewer has played a big part to-date in denying any real form of independent scrutiny over Scotland’s judiciary.

Protests from Scotland’s judges over proposals in the 2008 legislation resulted in Justice Minister MacAskill creating the powerless Judicial Complaints Reviewer, who works for three days a month on an annual budget of £2000 and no staff.

Commenting on the lack of powers handed to the JCR, a legal insider told Diary of Injustice : “If you are consulting with judges about the extent of powers of an independent regulator who will scrutinise complaints against the judiciary, don't be too surprised to learn they will block statutory powers of oversight being handed to that independent regulator.”

He continued : ”Consulting with the same people who are being regulated does not work very well, particularly in the case of the judiciary who seem to regard the courts as their own business venue, apparently expecting everyone to bow and scrape to them while paying their salaries and international jaunts.”

Last week, MSPs on the Petitions Committee also heard evidence from the JCR regarding how complaints against the judiciary are handled in the rest of the UK.

In England and Wales, the situation is very different from that of Scotland, where the Office for Judicial Complaints has 15 staff and publishes details of upheld complaints.

If complainants remain dissatisfied with how their case was handled, they can appeal to the Judicial Appointment and Conduct Ombudsman, headed by Sir John Brigstocke, with 14 staff.

Unlike the office of Scotland’s Judicial Complaints Reviewer which currently has no powers, the Judicial Appointment and Conduct Ombudsman has statutory powers enshrined in law,  and can overturn decisions, order reinvestigations and ask for victims to be compensated.

Clearly this imbalance must immediately be addressed and statutory powers must be handed to Scotland’s Judicial Complaints Reviewer in an equivalent or even stronger form than currently exist in the rest of the UK.

Previous articles on the lack of transparency within Scotland’s judiciary, investigations of the judiciary by Diary of Injustice including reports from the Sunday Mail newspaper, and video footage of debates at the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee can be found here : A Register of Interests for Scotland's Judiciary

The Sunday Mail newspaper reports further on the call to give more powers of oversight to Scotland's Judicial Complaints Reviewer :

What's the point of a watchdog without teeth - Sunday Mail 22 September 2013WHAT’S THE POINT OF A WATCHDOG WITHOUT TEETH?

REVEALED JUDGES ESCAPE SCRUTINY

By Russell Findlay Sunday Mail 22 Sept 2013

A watchdog probing complaints about judges yesterday urged Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to give her some real bite.

Moi Ali admits there’s “little point” to her role as Scotland’s first ever Judicial Complaints Reviewer because of its lack of teeth.

She said: “It’s fair to say because I don’t actually have any powers. There’s no real independent oversight.If you provide oversight without powers, then there’s almost little point to it.”

Judges have opposed an independent ombudsman to oversee complaints against them.

Their protests resulted in Justice Minister MacAskill creating the “powerless” JCR who works three days per month, has a £2000 annual budget and no staff.

Complaints against judges are initially handled by the Judicial Office for Scotland, which is headed by the Lord President Lord Gill.

The complainer can ask Ali to review how their case was handled - but she can take no action.

In England and Wales, the Office for Judicial Complaints has 15 staff and publishes details of upheld complaints. People can then appeal to the Judicial Appointment and Conduct Ombudsman, headed by Sir John Brigstocke, with 14 staff.

His post is the equivalent to Ali’s but he can overturn decisions, order reinvestigations and ask for victims to be compensated.

Ali said: “It’s hard to say why, if you make a complaint about a judge in England or Wales, the powers available are so much wider compared to what happens in Scotland. Their approach couldn’t be more different in terms of openness.”

Lord Gill has snubbed Holyrood’s plea to discuss legal campaigner Peter Cherbi’s petition for a judicial register of interests. He cited the Scotland Act which says judges can’t be forced to attend parliament. But critics say the Act only refers to judges’ courtroom decisions.

Ali last week told the committee: “Clearly politicians should have no part in influencing judicial decisions.

But judicial accountability is a completely separate issue.

“That’s the issue that cuts through all of this for me.”

During last week’s hearing, Scottish Tory deputy leader Jackson Carlaw launched a colourful attack on Scotland’s top judge.

Carlaw said Lord Gill had an “Edwardian establishment disdain for the hoi polloi”.

He also said there was a feeling “the swish of judicial ermine and velvet should cow into deference both public and the legislature”.

Committee chairman, Labour MSP David Stewart, and his SNP deputy Chic Brodie plan to meet Lord Gill in private and raise Ali’s lack of power with MacAskill.

The Scottish Government said: “We note the committee plans to raise these issues and will respond in due course.”

32 comments:

  1. How on earth have the Scottish judges got away with this while there exists a complaints system in the rest of the country?

    Judicial mafia at work again I suspect and why oh why do we have judges being consulted on how to investigate them????This is just daft!!

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  2. The law is that way because the judges designed it that way.. very good point and hits the nail on the head re vested interests telling us we do what they say not as they do as in the case of Lord NO-NO Gill

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  3. So much for an independent Scotland - the judges will still be calling the shots as they are just now!Has anyone taken a look through those links?It says "Scottish Ministers must consult with the Lord President" about 1000 times!What a flaming cheek!Where exactly do the judges sit at the parliament?I dont see them anywhere and not on the ballot sheet either!

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  4. The last Legal Affairs Ombudsman Linda Costelloe-Baker , who had nothing remotely like the powers of her counterparts elsewhere in the UK was effctively sidelined and kicked out of office for rocking the boat.

    Don't expect the worst Justice minister in living memory to do much, if anything, to redress the balance.

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  5. Good headline and she's right - what is the point of being an ombudsman if there are no powers and just why are the judges in on everything all the time?

    Given all you have written about these judges and all the newspaper headlines I think there should be a much wider reform of the judiciary in Scotland as well as the register of interests issue.

    Keep up the good work and a big Hello from Boston,MA!

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  6. What a fascinating and extraordinary evidence from Ms Ali.

    It is crystal clear that Ms Ali, is both capable and unflappable in equal measure and she seems to be an excellent judge of character when it comes to the closed shop, heads stuffed in the sand World of the Scottish Judiciary?

    It sounds as though, Lord Gill has no intention of fulfilling the most important requirement of his job; that is to serve the Scottish People; rather he is jealously guarding the unaccountable power to rule over the Plebian Scots who come before them, safe in the knowledge that nobody can do anything about any excesses or errors committed by the Scottish Judiciary because they are above the law and that is the way they intend to keep it?

    Ms Ali seems to have summed up his character in a split second.........A Total Chancer?

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  7. Amazing testimony!

    Within a minute, Ms Moi discloses instances where there is clear corruption going on in oak panelled rooms, where the Scottish judges seem to be operating in a climate of making up the rules to suit themselves......because they can?

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  8. Must feel good to have someone support what you have been writing about for years?

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  9. At the very least MacAskill should give Moi Ali the existing powers in England & Wales to deal with the judges but as you say they should be even stronger especially given what the newspaper and you have reported about the judiciary.

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  10. Moi Ali admits there’s “little point” to her role as Scotland’s first ever Judicial Complaints Reviewer because of its lack of teeth.

    She said: “It’s fair to say because I don’t actually have any powers. There’s no real independent oversight.If you provide oversight without powers, then there’s almost little point to it.”

    I wish more ombudsmen would admit this truth!

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  11. So what is MacAskill waiting on?Another consultation with the Lord President?
    What a joke!Give Moi Ali the powers now instead of waiting another 100 years!

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  12. Anonymous Anonymous said...

    So much for an independent Scotland - the judges will still be calling the shots as they are just now!Has anyone taken a look through those links?It says "Scottish Ministers must consult with the Lord President" about 1000 times!What a flaming cheek!Where exactly do the judges sit at the parliament?I dont see them anywhere and not on the ballot sheet either!

    24 September 2013 22:05

    Yes good point these judges are unelected and are ordering the parliament around on the same laws governing themselves.

    This has to be stopped and the judges put in their place regarding their conduct like anyone else.And that immunity of the judges must also be ended.

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  13. Why do I get the feeling all this has only come about because of your petition?

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  14. SNP who would trust these Lawyer protecting scoundrels.

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  15. Independent, I shudder when I hear that word.

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  16. How can the Scottish Government/MacAskill dodge this one?It seems very clear from what Moi Ali said and the way the msps are talking she needs more powers.

    Also referring back to the third comment there is too much involvement with the Lord President in all of this and he is not likely to agree to more powers of scrutiny is he.This is a shameful way of writing the law as arranged by these vested interests to cover their backs when needed like now.

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  17. The SNP are responsible for this hodge-podge abd the disgraceful abuses which have followed their policies. Independence? NEVER.

    Far better disband the scottish so-called justice system - as Oliver Cronwell did when the stink of corruption in Edinburgh was overwhelming - and have a single (English) system for the whole UK.

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  18. Cracking idea and yes quite right this judge is being questioned about his conduct and that of his colleagues - not court decisions therefore he should show up to face the music.

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  19. Anonymous said...
    So much for an independent Scotland - the judges will still be calling the shots as they are just now!Has anyone taken a look through those links?It says "Scottish Ministers must consult with the Lord President" about 1000 times!What a flaming cheek!Where exactly do the judges sit at the parliament?I dont see them anywhere and not on the ballot sheet either!

    24 September 2013 22:05
    =======================

    All designed to keep the hateful Scottish Public in check?

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  20. Anonymous said...
    At the very least MacAskill should give Moi Ali the existing powers in England & Wales to deal with the judges but as you say they should be even stronger especially given what the newspaper and you have reported about the judiciary.

    25 September 2013 17:39
    _________________________

    If this is about maintaining Justice, I would put Ms Ali above NoNo, as she has demonstrated that she is fair, reasonable, impartial and transparent?

    Trumping NONO in each and every area?

    Why is Scotland paying Ms Ali a budget of £2,000.00 a year, when NONO sit on top of a pile of corruption and fraud that is blowing over a £Billion pounds of cash?

    Scotland has been taken over by the Law Society of Scotland, who have Salmond and McRoadkill in their pockets, so that they can suck the very marrow from the bones of the Scottish People before discarding their broken corpses on the Devil's midden?

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  21. Instead of allowing the Judges make up their own rules to suit themselves, rather than suiting the law (we are seeing the consequences of these unlawful immunity clauses now), Ms Moi Ali, knows what is required and is 'minded' to do an excellent job for and in the best interests of the Scottish People?

    I would give Moi Ali all of the powers she asks for, to allow her to begin to clean up the mess these crooks have put us in and I would pay HER £250,000.00 a year and pay NONO around £10,000.00 a year, if only to put the kibosh on his final salary fat-cat pension?

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  22. Anonymous said...
    Independent, I shudder when I hear that word.

    27 September 2013 01:21
    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'mm

    And all because wee telly tubby has sold his soul to the Law Society of Scotland because he believes that they will act in Scotland's interests in the negotiations with the English over the settlement after Independence is achieved?

    He just cannot see that the Law Society of Scotland are Hell-Bent on grabbing as much power as they can and that they will sell the Scottish People down the river just to grab more power, insidious influence and cash?

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  23. Anonymous said...
    How can the Scottish Government/MacAskill dodge this one?It seems very clear from what Moi Ali said and the way the msps are talking she needs more powers.

    Also referring back to the third comment there is too much involvement with the Lord President in all of this and he is not likely to agree to more powers of scrutiny is he.This is a shameful way of writing the law as arranged by these vested interests to cover their backs when needed like now.

    27 September 2013 14:29
    dddddddddddddddddddddddd

    All of Scotland's legislation is draughted up by the 100 plus Scottish lawyers who work within the Scottish Parliament, under direct influence by the Law Society of Scotland to twist and inveigle the clauses in order to give more work and power to Scottish lawyers, prosecutors and Judiciary?

    A sort of slow-motion twisting of the blade into Scotland's kidney?

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  24. It is almost as if NoNo is trying to get the sack?

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  25. Are we going to get to see MacAskill's reply to Moi Ali?

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  26. "SNP who would trust these Lawyer protecting scoundrels.

    27 September 2013 00:11"

    Really?What evidence is there for this?

    If you read the stories about the judiciary you must surely come to the conclusion there has been no change simply because the all powerful unionist judiciary and the legal profession as it stands are not allowing any change.Change the rules at the parliament and things may change for you.

    "Independent, I shudder when I hear that word.

    27 September 2013 01:21"

    If you are going to shudder under independence you must be falling to pieces under the unionist judges and lawyers.

    I am sure Mr Cherbi and his team will agree the Law Society and the judiciary want to retain the union (much of their power comes from the union).

    In fact if you are a real follower of the news you will know Mr C has exposed some of the Law Society of Scotland big wheels who crawl miserably through the halls of Westminster like slugs leaving a trail of slime.

    Take it from someone who knows these unwelcome garden pests are treated with a lot more veneration in London than they are at Holyrood.

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  27. Whether it is your intention or not,these recent postings drawing attention to scandals within the judiciary have made this blog almost daily news among my colleagues.Its good to stir up the status quo or sink it as you seem to be doing!

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  28. In reply to the comment of
    30 September 2013 13:09

    "Take it from someone who knows these unwelcome garden pests are treated with a lot more veneration in London than they are at Holyrood."

    -----------------------------------

    Oh really? Perhaps the Law Society of Scotland can afford to lobby in Westminster because they know that Holyrood is bought and paid for.

    With approximately 100 lawyers - all paid up members of the Law Society no doubt - drafting legislation, and a qualified and tame solicitor as the worst justice minister in living memory, Holyrood is obviously in the Law Society's back pocket. So no wonder it is casting its net wider be that in Westminster and/or Brussels - and both probably directly or indirectly at the taxpayers expense.

    30 September 2013 13:09

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  29. Anonymous said...
    Whether it is your intention or not,these recent postings drawing attention to scandals within the judiciary have made this blog almost daily news among my colleagues.Its good to stir up the status quo or sink it as you seem to be doing!

    30 September 2013 16:27
    //////////////////////////////////////////

    Friend,

    They are sinking themselves. They do not need any help...

    ReplyDelete
  30. I have a genuine plan for Scotland to save £££££'s from their Judiciary?

    Replace car crash McRoadkill with Moi Ali and allow her to use her good judgement to rid Scotland of the dead weight dinosaurs in the judiciary and replace them with people who act within the law and in the best interests of the People of Scotland?

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  31. Still no reply from Macaskill yet?
    Why taking so long?
    Is Kenny having a secret consultation with the Lord President in some foreign country so we cant find out about it?

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  32. Newsflash from Australia......

    Kath say's to Kim, 'Look at Moi, Look at Moi, Kimmi look at Moi........

    Everyone is finding out about the Scottish Scandal over Judges Interests and can see that Ms Moi Ali is someone who has the skill and good judgement to cut through all of the self interest and chaff and breathe the freshair of justice back into the system?

    What a refreshing change?

    ReplyDelete

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