Looking back

It's over 14 years now since I was appointed to the bench; fourteen years of almost constant change. Indeed the first thing I had to do when I began sitting was forget a major part of my training. We had somehow managed to get our heads round the complexities of unit fines, when suddenly the then Home Secretary, Kenneth Clarke, stood up in the Commons and scrapped them. That's been a defining characteristic of the pattern - new laws passed in haste and then quickly discarded when the flaws start to emerge,
Another recurrent theme has been appeals from the Home Secretary, the Lord Chancellor and others who have failed to provide enough places, that we should stop sentencing people to custody because there is nowhere to put them (That one has reared its ugly head again this week).
Well, such things have prompted steam to gush from my ears at frequent intervals, but now no more. We have sold our home in the UK and are moving to Spain to enjoy retirement, so I have ceased to be a magistrate, but have applied for tranfer to the Supplemental List, which means that I continue to a be Justice of the Peace. In the event of a major war calling away large numbers of the active magistracy, then we are there in reserve to be called back to man the courts. This was the original purpose of the Supplemental List, but I shall not hold my breath or keep my suit ready pressed. Two world wars have come and gone without it ever being necessary to call us in. I expect - indeed hope - that that won't change.
To those who have found my ramblings of any interest, I say thank you for visiting, but the time has come to say farewell - or adios