I was somewhat miffed to read that the Scottish Court Service has plans to spend £300,000 on chauffeur-driven cars for judges, whilst all around us people are cutting and making do. The chauffeurs will be used to take judges between courts all across Scotland.
The expenditure of our money has been rightly questioned by opposition politicians. After all the Scottish government is expecting a cut of £900,000,000 in its pocket money for next year.
The courts service has defended the arrangement. They say that judges needed a safe and secure environment in which to travel. Erm, well, we all need a safe and secure environment when we are travelling be it to and from work, or for pleasure. What exactly is different about judges? Can they not drive? Are they incapable of getting on and off buses, or trains?
If so, maybe they shouldn’t be sitting in judgment on the rest of us.
They say of course, that despite the financial challenges, the service is vital to provide a
safe and secure environment for court documents or equipment accompanying them to court. It is also deemed necessary for the judges to work on cases confidentially while travelling “so that hearings can be dealt with promptly and efficiently without causing delays.”
WHAT? Has anyone ever been in the chaos that is the court system? And does no one else have to work whilst travelling for work, sometimes on confidential papers?
Presumably then, counsel for the accused and the defence will also require chauffeur driven cars so that they too can work in confidence in transit?
Richard Baker for Labour criticized the decision, swaying that in England and Wales there would be job losses and court closures following last week’s spending review. What exactly England and Wales have to do wi
th this I’m not sure, but it does seem that Mr Baker hasn’t quite grasped the idea that having separate parliament and a separate legal system does mean that we do things differently here. Being Labour of course, he has been in the habit of taking his orders from London. But one thing for sure Mr Baker, the English judges won’t be getting bus to court.
John Lamont for the Tories said that in these hard times people would question whether this was really the best use of a large amount of their money. Damned right we will John. I trust Kenny MacAskill will be looking into this. I’d hate to think that the Scottish government would let it pass.
Judges need to be reminded that we are all in this together, even them.
The expenditure of our money has been rightly questioned by opposition politicians. After all the Scottish government is expecting a cut of £900,000,000 in its pocket money for next year.
The courts service has defended the arrangement. They say that judges needed a safe and secure environment in which to travel. Erm, well, we all need a safe and secure environment when we are travelling be it to and from work, or for pleasure. What exactly is different about judges? Can they not drive? Are they incapable of getting on and off buses, or trains?
If so, maybe they shouldn’t be sitting in judgment on the rest of us.
They say of course, that despite the financial challenges, the service is vital to provide a
safe and secure environment for court documents or equipment accompanying them to court. It is also deemed necessary for the judges to work on cases confidentially while travelling “so that hearings can be dealt with promptly and efficiently without causing delays.”WHAT? Has anyone ever been in the chaos that is the court system? And does no one else have to work whilst travelling for work, sometimes on confidential papers?
Presumably then, counsel for the accused and the defence will also require chauffeur driven cars so that they too can work in confidence in transit?
Richard Baker for Labour criticized the decision, swaying that in England and Wales there would be job losses and court closures following last week’s spending review. What exactly England and Wales have to do wi
th this I’m not sure, but it does seem that Mr Baker hasn’t quite grasped the idea that having separate parliament and a separate legal system does mean that we do things differently here. Being Labour of course, he has been in the habit of taking his orders from London. But one thing for sure Mr Baker, the English judges won’t be getting bus to court.John Lamont for the Tories said that in these hard times people would question whether this was really the best use of a large amount of their money. Damned right we will John. I trust Kenny MacAskill will be looking into this. I’d hate to think that the Scottish government would let it pass.
Judges need to be reminded that we are all in this together, even them.
