Telephone Hearings re parking firm claims - can we all discuss strategy and outcomes here

beamerguy

I have read and understood was has been said above.  There is going to be a lot of heart break with cases heard by phone. 
1: Many many people nowadays don't actually have a land line because with all mobiles the phone calls are free and included in a package.  I assume the court phones both parties and connects them to a party line with the courts telephone system ?   What happens if the mobile is in a poor reception area, what happens when the line drops, what does the judge do then ? What happens when one party cannot clearly hear the other ?  What happens if the call diverts to the answerphone due to a bad signal ?

2: Video calls are not that good and they depend on a good internet connection.  Many people will not have such programs let alone understand them.  I was using Skype the other day on a one to one private conversation when a bod with a user name of "hissing sid" joined in the conversation. Only way to get rid of him was to disconnect.
The TV companies use Zoom, that is not a secure system and as we see often on TV, the picture freezes or drops 

3: Even if everything works, there is the judge and that will most certainly be judge bingo as the recent Port Talbot case by phone proved.

These parking cases are trivial and should either be dismissed or set for another date when lockdown finishes.
A face to face in court can be the only way to get a fair hearing which everyone deserves

Snakes_Belly

Since lock down there has been a lot more domestic abuse cases and non molestation orders are dealt with in the Civil and Family courts. These would have to be given priority.

Pity that they have still not appointed a truly independent appeals system to cut out the cases like fluttering tickets.  It's also a pity that in these difficult times that judges can't agree on a list of cases that could be immediately dismissed, such as slipped blue badge, fluttering tickets and other trivial trangressions.

D_P_Dance

I am not a Civil Servant, I am a retired Civil Servant,  celebrating an eightieth birthday in June, almost  certainly  in isolation..  

bargepole

D_P_Dance said:

.., they can pay £255 and apply for an adjournment!

Surely that discriminates against poor people, the poorly educated., and the ill informed.  Does Keir know about this?

However, there are many ways in which one can frustrate a telephone conversation, .   some of which I have mentioned else where.  My choice would be to bring two handsets into close proximity, the interferance, (whining) makes it impossible to hear a word.

I am sure that this will frowned on by the accountants and auditors amongst us, but I do not see how an offence could be proven without considerable expence. 

Very poor advice DP. Anyone who is on qualifying benefits can qualify for exemption from paying court fees.
As for trying to frustrate the telephone conference, anyone who did what you are suggesting would most likely be muted by the Judge, and unable to speak for the rest of the session.

D_P_Dance

Welcome back David.  What are these "qualifying  benefits" of which you speak?  Can I get some?

Ralph-y

Until we see the first attempts at emailing bundles , and if the emails will except the total size, we may have to look at alternatives. Maybe the likes of 'whatsapp'   ....... reducing the size of attachments ... pictures .... will / may help, in this day and age of mega pixel cameras/phones. A large size is only needed for printing ... if viewed on  screen a vastly size reduced image will work. So I presume that until we know better as to if judges will print every thing out or just view as a on line doc, it will be work in progress....

keep safe ..

Ralph

D_P_Dance

What on earth is "whatsapp"?

Many people of advanced years are not computer literate, especially in black and ethnic communities, indeed IIMU that many elderly Bangladeshi women do not speak English.  I have lived in Bangladesh for three years and can well believe that this is true.

In my opinion telephone hearings are likely to discriminate against against the elderly and come members of BECs.

bargepole

D_P_Dance said:

Welcome back David.  What are these "qualifying  benefits" of which you speak?  Can I get some?

These are the qualifying benefits. You have to apply for exemption on form EX160:

• Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Income Support
• Universal Credit
• Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit)
• Scottish Civil Legal Aid

I very much doubt that, as a former FCO senior civil servant with a substantial index-linked pension, you would be in receipt of any of these.

beamerguy

D_P_Dance said:

What on earth is "whatsapp"?

Many people of advanced years are not computer literate, especially in black and ethnic communities, indeed IIMU that many elderly Bangladeshi women do not speak English.  I have lived in Bangladesh for three years and can well believe that this is true.

In my opinion telephone hearings are likely to discriminate against against the elderly and come members of BECs.

It's not just about those who are not tech savvy, this could well be judge bingo at it's worst

bargepole

Ralph-y said:

Until we see the first attempts at emailing bundles , and if the emails will except the total size, we may have to look at alternatives. Maybe the likes of 'whatsapp'   ....... reducing the size of attachments ... pictures .... will / may help, in this day and age of mega pixel cameras/phones. A large size is only needed for printing ... if viewed on  screen a vastly size reduced image will work. So I presume that until we know better as to if judges will print every thing out or just view as a on line doc, it will be work in progress....

keep safe ..

Ralph

When compiling the bundle, it does often come out as a large file size, especially if it contains images.
However, you can compress the bundle without losing any definition, and there are many free online resources available for doing that. It will typically reduce the file size from, say 10MB to 2MB.
I believe that the courts have lifted the restrictions on file sizes / number of pages temporarily. But you should consolidate all the documents into a single PDF, with an index, rather than multiple documents.