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Metric Martyrs Defence Fund

‘Parking Fine Mess’ case now set for the Court of Appeal…Judge Humpty Dumpty’s decision to be challenged.

A case came before the High Court 5th July last week, which could ultimately lead to every parking fine in the country being declared invalid…or, alternatively, the Metric Martyrs’ convictions being declared ‘unsafe.’

West Midlands pensioner Robin Decrittenden had an oral application to proceed to Judicial Review before Justice Andrew Collins in Court Number 2 at 10.30am on 5th July, in the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand, London.
Justice Andrew Collins is renowned as a rebellious Judge and has history of infuriating politicians. Read more here

However, what was witnessed in the Court was worthy of Alice in Wonderland rather than a High Court Judge. Read the Sunday Telegraph report of the case here

The crux of the case relied on the Bill of Rights 1689 which was referred to by Lord Justice Laws in the Metric Martyrs Judgment (18th February 2002 at the Royal Courts of Justice) as being a ‘constitutional statute’ and therefore incapable of implied repeal. As the 1991 Road Traffic Act which brought in ‘decriminalised parking’ does not allow access to a court of law for conviction (the fine or penalty simply imposed by a local authority) this therefore conflicts with the condition contained within the Bill of Rights which states:

“that all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before conviction are illegal and void.”

Tory Leader David Cameron was recently quoted as saying we need a new Bill of Rights. After the decision of Justice Collins it may well be that we need one after the Judge dismissed Decrittenden’s arguments as ‘baseless’ effectively consigning the Bill of Rights to the dustbin!

As no doubt many constitutional experts will be aware, on 21 July 1993, the Speaker of The House of Commons issued a reminder to the courts. Betty Boothroyd said: ‘There has of course been no amendment to The Bill of Rights…the house is entitled to expect that The Bill of Rights will be fully respected by all those appearing before the courts.’

In this instance the Judge showed no respect for this fundamental constitutional statute.

The implications could have been very serious indeed for the £1.2bn a year ‘Parking Fine Industry’ which was recently the subject of scathing criticism by the House of Commons Transport Committee’s Report.
Judge Collins stated that the Adjudicators and Local Authorities could now ‘breathe a collective sigh of relief.’

NPAS PATAS and Local Authorities…Don’t you dare start breathing yet!

However, that statement by Justice Collins was a bit premature because the Court of Appeal will be receiving the case papers from Robin Decrittenden tomorrow morning. Whichever way, there will be a full blown hearing covering all the points, including exposing Judge Humpty Dumpty’s (words will mean what I say they mean) Judgment…”the Bill of Rights does not apply to parking as there is no conflict. Parking Tickets are not fines.”

The Metric Martyr’s Campaign Director Neil Herron states,
“we have worked very hard to bring the Metric Martyrs Judgment back before the Courts and have had to bring about the conflict between the judgment and unlawful parking fines. As well as exposing this growing constitutional crisis we have also exposed the illegality and lawlessness of many aspects surrounding decriminalised parking.

Judge Collins thought he could make this case go away and get the ‘parking industry’ out of a difficult hole. His statement that parking tickets were not fines would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious, especially if you click here to visit the Government website which refers to parking tickets as ‘penalty fines.’

In reality the Judge has raised the stakes a lot higher and created the potential for a constitutional crisis and a full hearing before the Court of Appeal, which will undoubtedly end up in the House of Lords and the European Court of Human Rights. If that is the case then anyone using the same argument as Robin Decrittenden could quite rightly ask for their case to be adjourned pending the final outcome of the case….which could take years and throw Decriminalised Parking Enforcement into chaos.”

Just before preparing the Court of Appeal papers Robin Decrittenden stated:
“On Wednesday 5th July, I found myself face to face with the ‘Nightmare World’ that is being prepared for all of us by the arrogant politicians now infesting and destroying OUR Freedoms and OUR House of Commons!

In this ‘Nightmare World’ planned by the politicians, Justice has left the scene completely - and there is no room for anything except the dictatorship that the politicians are engineering and that will be a very proud monument to the memories of both Hitler and Stalin.

Mr. Justice Collins has attempted to put Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights into the wastepaper basket that sits under his desk and he has told me that words no longer mean what they say - because Parliament can do whatever it likes - whenever it likes! It is now on the record that if Parliament changes its mind about anything at all then what was decided by Parliament yesterday simply didn’t happen!

Our basic right to an independent trial has just left the country, by way of Justice Collins’ window - because Parliament has said that a Parking Tribunal IS a trial - and I must take it or leave it - said Mr. Collins - because HE is the Judge!

Well, I have taken a day or two to think about my experience – and I have decided that Mr Justice Collins must have been born on a different planet, if he thinks that any Englishman will accept the nonsense that came out of his mouth at the hearing on 5th July.I’m going to take these issues to the Court of Appeal for a full-blooded hearing - and I am taking this action on behalf of everybody who cares about this wonderful old country – and on behalf of everybody who cares about the fact that Local Authorities are not supposed to be ripping us off with their Parking Tickets & Penalties – which by the way are not now penalties or forfeitures – they have to be called Civil Responsibilities! It is time to remind Parliament and All Local Authorities that is their job to Serve US – and it is time to remind them that WE will always have the last word – because this is OUR Country!

I need your help – by way of your Voices raised in Angry Protest - with the national and local press; radio & television - and by way of any financial contribution that you can send to the Metric Martyrs Defence Fund, because the Metric Martyrs have promised to help me with the legal expenses involved!
Please do whatever you can to let the politicians know that Enough Is Enough!”

As soon as we have the transcript and the written judgment it will be posted here.

ENDS

Contact:

Neil Herron
(Campaign Director)
Metric Martyrs Defence Fund
12 Frederick Street
Sunderland
SR1 1NA
Tel. 0191 565 7143 Mob. 07776 202045

Website: www.metricmartyrs.co.uk e-mail:

From Eureferendum

At a meeting in Brussels today, Claude-France Arnould, Director of Politico-Military Affairs at the European Council declared that the EU Battle Groups were more a tool for political integration than to attain military objectives.

The Explanatory Notes to the Act: make it clear that originally the primary intention was to implement the EU Arrest Warrant:
“9. The Government set out its proposals to reform the law on extradition in a consultation document “The Law on
Extradition: A Review” in March 2001. It was the outcome of an exercise started in 1997 to consider the legislative
requirements of two European Union Conventions on Extradition. However, it developed into a much more extensive inquiry,
following the adoption at the Tampere Special European Council in October 1999 of the principle of mutual recognition of
judicial decisions by Member States of the European Union.”

rather than to make radical changes to the extradition arrangements with non-EU countries. The changes to the
arrangements for the US, which have received so much attention, arose from the new Extradition Treaty signed by Blunkett
in March 2003. There were warnings about it right from the start, eg in a Special Report from Statewatch in July 2003.

The 45 minute Commons debate after Tampere Special European Council in October 1999 is here:

with typically complacent statements from William Hague, Charles Kennedy et al. Here is information on three divers who
are currently threatened with the EU Arrest Warrant thanks to Part 1 of the Act. Being divers, not bankers, their case
is obviously of less concern to the Tory party.

“Did you know that regardless of the standard of evidence you can be forced to stand trial in an EU country without the
evidence first being examined in a British court? Take care when travelling in the EU. It could be your turn next.”

This is a November 2005 Guardian report on British truck drivers held in Spain:

“Those accused describe a trail of failed marriages, broken families and penury. David Stevenson lost his family while
in jail. Single mother Karen Bland lost her home and contact with her three daughters. Toplass himself is close to
breaking point. Letters sent daily from his Spanish cell reveal a man on the edge. Now the lawyers charged with
representing these disparate voices claim that their predicament raises searching questions over the nature of European
justice and argue that they are neglected because working class truckers are not a political priority. In the case of
Toplass, Stephen Jakobi, a human rights lawyer with more than 40 years’ experience, says he has never seen a more
‘compelling’ case of an innocent man behind bars.”

But this isn’t a recent development - when Blair swanned off to Tampere and accepted the principle of “fast track”
extradition to the rest of the EU, British lorry driver David Benny was having a less enjoyable time in a French prison,
where he was held on suspicion for 14 months while his case was investigated, eventually being released without any
charges ever being laid against him.

Nevertheless, not only is our government perfectly willing to hand us over to oppressive foreign jurisdictions elsewhere
in the EU, without any evidence of wrong doing being presented, but it seems that Opposition MPs also care so little
about our welfare that they would rather not even talk about it.

Thanks to Dr Cooper

Like Regional Assemblies, HIPs have nothing whatsoever to do with the EU. Oh, and I saw Heath on TV a few years ago,
arguing on the same lines as Yvette Cooper, below, about metrication - it was nonsense to suggest that it had anything
to do with Brussels, because we started before we joined the EEC. Why do we keep voting for politicians who hold us in
such complete contempt that they have no qualms about feeding us on a diet of brazen lies, aka c**p, decade after
decade?

Christopher Booker Sunday Telegraph 22.01.06:

“This is a flimsy cover, however, for the real motive behind Mr Prescott’s HIP scheme - his obligation to comply with EC
directive 2002/91 requiring every home put on the market to have an “Energy Performance Certificate”, based on a formula
which measures the size of a property against recent fuel bills.”

Yvette Cooper Sunday Telegraph 29.01.06:

“The accusation that Home Information Packs are a “flimsy cover” to introduce energy performance certificates for
dwellings is pure fabrication. The Government’s intention to include an energy report in the packs was made clear six
years ago, three years prior to an EU directive requiring all homes to have energy efficiency certificates.”

Christopher Booker Sunday Telegraph 05.02.06

“Yvette Cooper denies that the need to include an energy performance certificate had anything to do with a Brussels
directive (Letters, January 29). Her officials, she says, were already discussing this three years before the directive
was issued. She omits to mention that officials in Brussels were discussing it even earlier.”

From Dennis Cooper