Name, Number and Nationality

A new requirement is in force with effect from the start of the week that requires every defendant appearing before a criminal court to confirm their nationality, or risk a prosecution and imprisonment. n practice, ‘the Court’.  is likely to be the Magistrates Court, at the first appearance in a case. The provision is offensive and objectionable, and straight out of the UKIP dream statute book. Why stop there? Why not require confirmation of religion? Perhaps instead of requiring a question and answer routine, the Court could just write down the defendant’s skin colour. It is presumed the legislation is to assist with the speedy deportation of ‘foreign’ criminals. But how to monitor them once identified? Well lock them up obviously – something that is nine times more likely to happen if the foreign national is non-white, as evidenced in the Lammy report. But after that?  It is a only a short step from obtaining verification of nationality to requiring the foreign defendant to be tagged, a digital equivalent of being forced to display a star or triangle. The legislation ironically became effective the day after Remembrance Sunday.

Read more:  Greg Foxsmith, ‘The Justice Gap’, http://bit.ly/2hE6Deb