26-03-2009, 06:15 PM
If there truly is no way to appeal the following then we have reached that point in our civilization where abject authoritarianism is the rule of the day.
http://www.wine-pages.com/cgi-bin2/ultim...018569;p=0
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http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/17/1750.asp
5/14/2007
UK: Police Seize Cars for Mere Speeding
Scotland, UK police use anti-social behavior orders to seize automobiles for minor traffic violations.
Police in Scotland, UK are using anti-social behavior orders (ASBO) to seize cars belonging to drivers accused of minor traffic violations. Last year, the Lothian and Borders police seized 54 vehicles and issued 565 ASBOs to motorists for traffic offenses such as speeding.
An ASBO is a civil order against anyone accused acting in "a manner causing, or likely to cause, alarm, distress or annoyance to members of the public." If the recipient of an ASBO is accused of a second traffic offense within a year of the order's issuance, his car can be impounded.
Mike J Wilson, 50, wrote about his experience with an ASBO in the Scotsman newspaper. He was speeding at a reasonable pace off the A1 in East Lothian on a clear Sunday evening. Police stopped him after he cut over sharply to an off-ramp -- even though no traffic was near enough to be endangered by his action. Wilson's surprise at receiving an ASBO was second only to the discovery that he had no avenue to appeal the order.
"The impression I form is that there is a drift towards summary justice, which has a lower burden of proof - the balance of probability as opposed to beyond reasonable doubt," Napier University, Edinburgh, Law lecturer Ken Dale-Risk told the Scotsman. "However, I am somewhat surprised to see ASBO legislation being applied to standard road traffic violations.... Access to due process is denied and the consequences are disproportionate to the conduct."
http://www.wine-pages.com/cgi-bin2/ultim...018569;p=0
Quote:I have.
OK, sorry to add to the weight of NWR posts, but have to express my surprise somewhere.
For a safe overtaking manoeuvre performed last night I was pulled over and awarded, after a snottily superior but thankfully short lecture, an anti-social behaviour order.
Yes, you thought these were orders given by learned judges in the courts, to hoodies* and hoodlums caught terrorising neighbourhoods, spraying graffiti and causing a general nuisance. But in East Lothian it now seems they can be handed out at the roadside by officers making a subjective judgement on an element of driving such as overtaking. As I was back on my side of the road with plenty of time to spare I judged it a safe manoeuvre. The copper disagrees, however, and I am judged and sentenced at the roadside.
Civil liberties?
What is also really annoying is that this 12 month ASBO applies to the vehicle which was my wife's car (as well as me and any vehicle I am driving), so should my wife now offend by over-revving her engine or playing her music too loud (both unlikely) the vehicle will be impounded.
Is it just me or is this going a bit far? Especially considering that this is all based on the view of a copper and I have no easily apparent route to object/appeal.
Thank heavens I wasn't driving a Porsche Cayman, that would have really upset them.
I have lined up a few names who will soon be in receipt of letters (a solicitor, chief constable, MSP, you know the sort) but wondered what the great legal minds on this forum thought.
* I was not wearing a hoodie at the time.
Wine moment: Afterwards I drank a 2004 Chianti Classico. Not before, obviously.
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Chris Kissack
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http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/17/1750.asp
5/14/2007
UK: Police Seize Cars for Mere Speeding
Scotland, UK police use anti-social behavior orders to seize automobiles for minor traffic violations.
Police in Scotland, UK are using anti-social behavior orders (ASBO) to seize cars belonging to drivers accused of minor traffic violations. Last year, the Lothian and Borders police seized 54 vehicles and issued 565 ASBOs to motorists for traffic offenses such as speeding.
An ASBO is a civil order against anyone accused acting in "a manner causing, or likely to cause, alarm, distress or annoyance to members of the public." If the recipient of an ASBO is accused of a second traffic offense within a year of the order's issuance, his car can be impounded.
Mike J Wilson, 50, wrote about his experience with an ASBO in the Scotsman newspaper. He was speeding at a reasonable pace off the A1 in East Lothian on a clear Sunday evening. Police stopped him after he cut over sharply to an off-ramp -- even though no traffic was near enough to be endangered by his action. Wilson's surprise at receiving an ASBO was second only to the discovery that he had no avenue to appeal the order.
"The impression I form is that there is a drift towards summary justice, which has a lower burden of proof - the balance of probability as opposed to beyond reasonable doubt," Napier University, Edinburgh, Law lecturer Ken Dale-Risk told the Scotsman. "However, I am somewhat surprised to see ASBO legislation being applied to standard road traffic violations.... Access to due process is denied and the consequences are disproportionate to the conduct."
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
Carl Jung - Aion (1951). CW 9, Part II: P.14