In England and Wales, you could be fined £10^99 for having a crumb of cannabis in your pocket. There is nothing - and I do mean nothing - written in the Misuse of Drugs Act that requires any warnings of any kind, or places any limits on fines. The maximum sentence for possession of a Class B controlled substance is five years imprisonment and an unlimited fine. Period. A fine larger than the number of atoms in the universe is perfectly lawful under the Misuse of Drugs Act. The idea that we can trust judges and sentencing guidelines rings hollow to me.
> In England and Wales, you could be fined £10^99 for having a crumb of cannabis in your pocket. There is nothing - and I do mean nothing - written in the Misuse of Drugs Act
> The fourth, fifth and sixth columns show respectively the punishments which may be imposed on a person convicted of the offence in the way specified in relation thereto in the third column (that is to say, summarily or on indictment) according to whether the controlled drug in relation to which the offence was committed was a Class A drug, a Class B drug or a Class C drug; and
You've misread the legislation. The maximum sentences you're referring to are for summary convictions at a magistrates court. Possession of a controlled substance is an each-way offence which can be tried at either a magistrates or crown court. There is a higher maximum sentence if your offence is tried at a crown court, which is listed in schedule 4, namely "5 years or a fine, or both".
But that law has to be read in conjunction with others, which set out when trial is at magistrates or crown court; and what the sentencing guidance is.
The courts must follow the sentencing council guidelines unless it's in the public interest not to do so.
Judges don't have to adhere to guidelines as these are only guidelines. I have seen couple of cases where people were punished severely for something rather minor. Only thing you can do is to complaint about the judging.
> The primary role of the Council is to issue guidelines on sentencing which the courts must follow unless it is in the interests of justice not to do so.
> The Sentencing Council is an independent, non-departmental public body of the Ministry of Justice and replaced the Sentencing Guidelines Council and the Sentencing Advisory Panel in April 2010.
Yes, but the point I'm trying to get across to people is that there's a general legal requirement that the legal and administrative systems be proportionate, even if it's not incorporated by explicit reference in every piece of legslative text.
(I can't lay hands on it at the moment but there are clear guidelines to UK judges on what constitutes reasonable fines for offences, such that it should be feasible for the person to actually pay the fine)
UK judges don't have to follow the guidelines - these are just guidelines, but judge can use his/hers own discretion within the law. In case of drugs some judges expose almost psychotic hatred towards drug users and can deal punishment outside of the guidelines.
