An experience most want to avoid (and according to expensive legal advice I received many years ago, you’d be wise to avoid unless absolutely necssary) is having to appear in courts of law.
I suspect there is a significant number (I would not even know where to attempt to look up such data!) of people drawn into the court system, possibly through no fault of their own, who end up being criminalised due to the opacity of the processes and procedures. The processes and systems routinely applied by magistrates and other staff in court are not ‘user friendly’ by a long shot, and unless you are aware of available options, you may just appear in court for a triviality, and end up having your life uprooted in a matter of hours.
A case in point happened to someone close to me, who had been summoned to appear in court on a previous occasion, missed that, and was presented with a fine/alternatively jail time for what as called contempt of court. The original matter was settled, which left the matter of paying a fine.
Unless you know how the system works, you now face a real prospect of getting finger-printed, spending time in jail, and a criminal record, should you not have the funds for the fine on your person. They were taken to the holding cells, allowed one phone call to arrange for the payment of the fine, and then locked up. It happened to be a Friday, and after some time, some in the holding cells were taken away. Upon asking others, it became apparent they were being transported to police holding cells or jails. When asked about their fine payment, they were informed that unless it was paid by 13h00, they would be taken to police holding cells, and that they could then only be released on Monday, once the fine had been paid (on other weekdays the transport starts at 15h00. Pleading for anoher phone call, they reached me, and I was able to contavene dozens of traffic regulations getting to the courts in time, and paying the fine before police transport came for them.
A weekend of jail time is nobody’s idea of a good weekend.
Had a lwayer been present, there would have not been an issue. The matter was not worth a lawyer, but the contempt issue added a layer of injustice that was not apparent before.
The person they had phoned was unable to raise the money for the fine, but was unable to reach them again to discuss alternatives.
Would it be too much to ask the courts to present obvious solutions to possible issues of paying the fine when sentencing someone to a fine? It was three days before payday, hence the issue of not having cash on hand, and the problems encountered by the person first called.
Most of us can avoid contact with our justice system altogether, but when circumstances conspire against you, they can trigger an avalanche of consequences that can have lasting effects. The list of ‘what ifs’ is a long one, as are the unconsidered possible consequences of actual jail time.
What happens to those unable to secure a simple solution in time? Is there redress available, should such persons experience consequences of court actions? Do those sentencing people take into account that not all before them have access to lawyers and immediate cash?
It feels one is left to hang out to dry, when the courts should actually be about justice.
Criminalising people creates criminals. It is not a deterrent. Some may remain criminals due to the unintended consequences of not having ready cash on hand.