Law and Rights
The following appeared this morning on the estimable Crimeline. I have added a little emphasis ! This is an outrageous public scandal:
- Credit Card Debt In Divorce
Credit Card Debt in Divorce By Aaron Larson Law Offices of Aaron Larson While divorcing couples frequently carry credit card debt, often little attention is paid to these debts beyond their being assigned to one spouse or the other in the divorce judgment....
- Delphi Gets Away With Cooking The Books
After a 2 year probe of Delphi's accounting procedures, the SEC sued the bankrupt auto parts maker and 13 persons for fraud and other accounting violations on Oct. 30. At the same time, Delphi Corp. and some of the individuals settled with the SEC,...
- Privatisation Of The Courts?
One of the key prerogatives of the Crown is the right to dispense justice. We have the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand. Our judges and magistrates sit under the Royal Arms signifying that they dispense justice according to law on behalf...
- Uninsured Vehicles
In February 2010, the Police power to impound vehicles considered by them to be uninsured was noted - see Police Powers No.1 (16th February 2010). The Manchester Evening News has now noticed that fines for driving without insurance do not usually come...
- Magistrates Powers
The Magistrates' Association represents over 28,000 Justices of the Peace who serve in the Magistrates' Courts in England and Wales. The U.K. is very unique in the extent to which non-lawyers participate in the criminal justice system and...
Law and Rights
Fines ... all is not fine !!
"Fines collection
Amyas Morse, Comptroller and Auditor General, reported to Parliament that HM Courts Service, the body responsible for the collection of fines, confiscation orders and penalties imposed by the judiciary and police, has been unable to provide him with proper accounting records supporting those fines, confiscation orders and penalties.
This meant that he could not give an audit opinion on whether transactions and balances were complete, proper to this account and appropriately raised.
The report highlights how limitations in Libra, the case management IT system in use across magistrates? courts, and similar systems have contributed towards HM Courts Service?s inability to provide information at an individual transactions level to support the accounts.
Total outstanding debt in respect of fines, confiscation orders and penalties at the end of March 2011 according to the HM Courts Service is £1.9 billion, increased from £1.5 billion in the previous year, while only £457 million is recognised in the account as receivable. The difference of £1.4 billion represents management?s estimate of debt that is at risk.
The Courts Service
and the Ministry of Justice have made some recent improvements to the collection of fines, confiscation orders and penalties. These include new performance measures to monitor collection rates, timeliness and levels of arrears for fines; developments in enforcement and collection procedures; and additional work with other government bodies to maximise recoveries.
and the Ministry of Justice have made some recent improvements to the collection of fines, confiscation orders and penalties. These include new performance measures to monitor collection rates, timeliness and levels of arrears for fines; developments in enforcement and collection procedures; and additional work with other government bodies to maximise recoveries.
The Ministry also plans to carry out further investigations into the accounting functionality of Libra. However, both the Ministry and Courts Service have informed the NAO that they may not be able to address the accounting records issue fully until Libra and other relevant systems are significantly enhanced or replaced."
It almost goes without saying that, if the £1.4 bn debt were recovered fully, there would be no financial need whatsoever to make cuts to legal aid and, in so doing, destroy access to justice for many people. Also, the Ministry and Court Service response is hardly encouraging. Essentially, they are saying that they will spend even more public money to upgrade their abysmal information technology thus throwing more good money after bad.
- Credit Card Debt In Divorce
Credit Card Debt in Divorce By Aaron Larson Law Offices of Aaron Larson While divorcing couples frequently carry credit card debt, often little attention is paid to these debts beyond their being assigned to one spouse or the other in the divorce judgment....
- Delphi Gets Away With Cooking The Books
After a 2 year probe of Delphi's accounting procedures, the SEC sued the bankrupt auto parts maker and 13 persons for fraud and other accounting violations on Oct. 30. At the same time, Delphi Corp. and some of the individuals settled with the SEC,...
- Privatisation Of The Courts?
One of the key prerogatives of the Crown is the right to dispense justice. We have the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand. Our judges and magistrates sit under the Royal Arms signifying that they dispense justice according to law on behalf...
- Uninsured Vehicles
In February 2010, the Police power to impound vehicles considered by them to be uninsured was noted - see Police Powers No.1 (16th February 2010). The Manchester Evening News has now noticed that fines for driving without insurance do not usually come...
- Magistrates Powers
The Magistrates' Association represents over 28,000 Justices of the Peace who serve in the Magistrates' Courts in England and Wales. The U.K. is very unique in the extent to which non-lawyers participate in the criminal justice system and...