Archive for December 2011

Drunk In Charge Of An automobile – Don’t Be Caught Out

It’s quite common knowledge that to drive on a UK road with excess alcohol in your system, more than 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 milliliters of breath, inside a offense.

Anyone found guilty of driving with excess alcohol within their system will be disqualified from driving for a minimum of Twelve months. If the person has already established a similar conviction within the last Ten years then your driving disqualification will be for at least three years.

The total length of the ban is determined by several factors the most important being the amount of alcohol inside the system. As the minimum disqualification is required any hardship such as loss of employment due the ban will not be taken into account.

Certain “special reasons” however may be used to argue against a disqualification. For example maybe the driver in question has moved their vehicle only a short distance, from roadside to driveway or might have been dealing with a true emergency. Although technically this is enough to warrant prosecution it might be possible to argue “special reasons” to not disqualify. Such “special reasons” however can not guarantee a ruling against a ban. What the law states here is complex and every case are only able to be judged on a case to case basis.

It is not so well known that a driver may also very easily be prosecuted to be drunk in charge of an automobile. The law states that anybody who is in charge of an automobile on a road or other public place having consumed excess alcohol is guilty of this offense. This may lead to a discretionary ban, a fine or ten penalty points. You can be charged with this offense for simply having the secrets of an automobile whilst having excess alcohol in your body. This means if you sleep in a parked car whilst having consumed excess alcohol you can be charged. Even relaxing in your vehicle with excess alcohol in your body is sufficient to get you arrested. You only defense if you are charged with this is to prove that there wasn’t any likelihood of you driving the automobile whilst excess alcohol was still being in your body.

Both of these offenses could be committed either on a road or any other public place. What this means is any area the general public have access too. This could be pub car parks or shopping car parks. Even private roads have been held to be “other public places”.

Criminal Law and Elliot Spitzer – The Emperor Club Doesn’t have Clothes

Elliot Spitzer because the Attorney General of New York, worked to get rid of prostitution rings from the streets of New York, most thought he was doing his job to wash in the city, but, now we ask what percentage of those prostitution ring leaders were prosecuted because they were competitors of the Emperors Club. The Emperor’s Club has no clothes both literally and figuratively. Elliot Spitzer saw himself like a man over the law, who had the dubious privilege of enforcing what the law states, with a Harvard Law School Degree hanging in the office.

Today the criminal prosecutor requires a criminal lawyer from New York to represent him, because the Federal Agents unravel his money laundering schemes, RICO violations and prostitution patronage. Of course, now he shall suffer exactly the same fate like a new prosecutor constitutes a reputation for himself and launches his political career. Some say that this is poetic justice, others say Elliot Spitzer the Emperor doesn’t have clothes and no leg to face on, as he pushed the podium while watching media in one final carefully contrived farewell speech.

Will prosecutors go after his wife? What did she know? If she knew anything, she’s an accessory and should go to prison for obstruction of justice. Sound too outrageous for you? Well, allow me to remind you that Elliot Spitzer bullied many businessmen into settlements, once they were innocent, which Elliot Spitzer is not. In fact, Elliot Spitzer went after Hank Greenberg’s wife to get to profit that abuse of power and attack. Fair is fair, it’s time to spend the money for piper! Luckily, for Elliot Spitzer’s dad left him a genuine estate fortune, that they may use to pay the best criminal lawyer in Nyc!

Criminal Law and Elliot Spitzer – The Emperor Club Has No Clothes

Elliot Spitzer as the Attorney General of New York, worked to remove prostitution rings in the streets of recent York, most thought he was doing his job to clean in the city, but, now we ask what percentage of those prostitution ring leaders were prosecuted because they were competitors of the Emperors Club. The Emperor’s Club has no clothes both literally and figuratively. Elliot Spitzer saw himself like a man over the law, who had the dubious privilege of enforcing the law, having a Harvard Law School Degree hanging in the office.

Today the criminal prosecutor needs a criminal lawyer from New York to represent him, because the Federal Agents unravel his money laundering schemes, RICO violations and prostitution patronage. Obviously, now he shall suffer the same fate like a new prosecutor makes a name for himself and launches his political career. Some say that this really is poetic justice, others say Elliot Spitzer the Emperor doesn’t have clothes with no leg to face on, as he pushed the podium while watching media in one final carefully contrived farewell speech.

Will prosecutors pursue his wife? What did she know? If she knew anything, she is an accessory and should visit prison for obstruction of justice. Sound too over the top for you personally? Well, allow me to remind you that Elliot Spitzer bullied many businessmen into settlements, once they were innocent, which Elliot Spitzer isn’t. Actually, Elliot Spitzer went after Hank Greenberg’s wife to get to money in that abuse of power and attack. Fair is fair, it’s time to spend the money for piper! Luckily, for Elliot Spitzer’s dad left him a real estate fortune, that they may use to pay for the best criminal lawyer in Nyc!

Criminal Law: If the Illegal Importation of Tobacco and Cigarettes be a Criminal Offense?

Introduction

The illegal importation of tobacco and cigarettes costs the uk billions each year in taxes, yet it’s not, under a certain threshold, a legal. This article will explore the motivations behind the policy of keeping the illegal importation of tobacco and cigarettes a civil matter, by posing the question as to whether the illegal importation of tobacco and cigarettes ought to be a criminal offence? Joining the European Union means the uk no more has sovereign rights in determining what is, or is not, an acceptable allowance. A great place to start will, therefore, entail a fundamental study of what the law says regarding cigarette importation focusing on the rules that currently have been in force today.

What will become apparent out of this will concern the fact that the rules are just that, there aren’t any solid rules in relation to the total amount. There’s, however, a mechanism in place to prevent people from importing excessive amounts to be able to gain a fiscal advantage. The main crux want to know , will focus upon the current method of distinguishing what cigarettes are for personal use, and what cigarettes are for commercial gain. Finally, the discussion will focus upon whether the classification of importing low-level cigarettes and tobacco for commercial gain should be a legal, and, therefore, install the deference that was once owned by the English legislation.

Current Law on Importation of Cigarettes and Tobacco into the United Kingdom

Once the United Kingdom chose to join the European Economic Community (EU) there have been certain rights and obligations that befell every citizen who resided inside the Uk. As part of a package of rights, free movement of goods ended up being to be guaranteed. This entailed goods being purchased within one member state, and excise duty being paid on the goods, being permitted to pass through the borders from the member states with no other levies being placed upon them. This provision was designed to harmonise the tax levied on products in different member states. This initiative has failed to materialise in relation to tobacco products.

The UK’s rate of Tobacco Duty is considerably higher than in most of the remainder of Europe (the TMA puts the average price of 20 cigarettes on the continent around �2.40) and other areas of the world. It has led to many smokers in the uk going to the European mainland and getting their cigarettes there. It’s also increased smuggling for commercial purposes, because the rewards can be substantial. Article 9 of Directive 92/12/EEC sets out guidelines for national governments on quantities considered not to constitute commercial volumes. The government immediately issued guidelines which stated that only 800 cigarettes and 1 kilo of tobacco might be imported into the Uk under the following tips.

There is a wave of protests from different sources, with high level EU officials claiming the United Kingdom wasn’t cooperating using the spirit of the EU by denying its citizens the rights that they had agreed to afford them once the Treaty was signed. In October 2001 Single Market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein launched an action stating “The commission is worried the controls currently being applied at UK ports and airports, and the sanctions being applied when UK excise duty law is breached, may breach the EU rules which give travellers the right to buy abroad.”

The uk reviewed its policy following many cases that went as high as the Court of Appeal. The rules now suggest that 3200 cigarettes are now allowable and 3 kilos of tobacco. Customs and Excise officials were still given the authority to challenge individuals if they believed that the cigarettes and tobacco were purchased for commercial purposes. The problem still remains, however, in distinguishing what cigarettes are for personal use, and what cigarettes are for commercial gain.

Methods Employed to Distinguish Cigarettes for private use and Those Purchased for Commercial Purposes

The EU has set out guidelines for what it believes are reasonable quantities for private consumption, to distinguish from commercial volumes. A traveller with amounts within the guidelines might be allowed through whether they can prove it is for private consumption, for instance at a wedding ceremony. Amounts below the rules could lead to enforcement action if, for example, exactly the same person was coming through many times per week so that they can build up commercial amounts of stock. It’s been asserted that UK customs might be applying the rules too harshly.

It has been stated that 80% of smuggled cigarettes comes in via container, and also the detection rate for tobacco coming in by foot or car is about 3% of the remaining 20%. The goal would be to detect 10%, which means for all the money spent and irritation caused, just 2% of smuggled tobacco will be detected. Why is the Government tackling shoppers with relatively a small amount? If Customs think that people who are carrying such small amounts of these products are engaging in a commercial venture, thus avoiding the job, then surely this ought to be a criminal offence.

The Criminality of Tobacco Smuggling

For you to comprehend the reasoning behind not classifying tobacco smuggling like a criminal activity, one first needs to understand some fundamental principals about the English legislation. In civil cases, you have to convince a judge or jury on the balance of probabilities. This technique allows for a lower standard of proof. If a judge or jury isn’t convinced, around the balance of probabilities by the evidence that’s been presented, then that the tobacco is not for commercial purposes, they can decide towards the customs. In criminal law, the conventional of proof is beyond all doubt. The customs must prove, therefore, the tobacco was for commercial purposes, and can have to produce much more in evidence to prove this assertion.

There is also another far more cynical policy behind this classification. There won’t be any legal aid granted to an individual when fighting a seizure order on the goods. The Crown, however, will use a solicitor and barrister for that court. This strikes at the very heart associated with a judicial notion of a right to a fair trial provided under Article 6 from the European Convention of Human Rights. The Crown argues that representation could be sought by any individual; however, when the stakes are so low, and the legal costs will outweigh the particular price of the products which have been seized, one might question the productiveness of pursuing such a strategy. Customs and Excise are getting the very best of all possible worlds for the reason that the policy of keeping mtss is a civil matter law enables them to assume your guilt around the balance of probabilities, yet the punishments they inflict are worst than criminals going through the criminal justice system. No wonder the British legislation is being brought into disrepute.

Conclusion

There is no denying the truth that the aggressive procedures utilized by the Customs and Excise are saving the government millions, if not billions in tax. The question still remains whether this is being done legally. The Court has confirmed those who restore vast amounts of alcohol and tobacco must accept an evidential burden to provide a satisfactory explanation, the lack of which may well cause Customs to conclude that they’re not for own use but held for any commercial purpose, yet this reverses the evidentiary burden inside a perverse way. Those who assert a situation of affairs have an evidentiary burden to prove the truth that they’re asserting, not the opposite way round.

The contemptuous policy of defining this cause of action as civil isn’t just perverse because it is vicious, it’s led to Customs & Excise, who one would normally keep company with the Ambulance service and also the Police, now viewed with open contempt. More seriously, lots of people now feel too intimidated to travel freely. It reminds one of The Peoples Republic of East Germany. The only way to restore credibility to the English legal system is to reclassify this specific action as criminal, thus allowing all of the safeguards afforded to society in the process.