Lord Justice Goldring relaxes guidance after cross-party criticism and threat of high court legal challengeThe senior judge who banned magistrates from standing as candidates in November’s police commissioner elections has backed down and said they demand not resign as JPs unless they are elected.The go by Lord Justice Goldring, the senior presiding judge in England and Wales, follows the threat of a high court legal challenge and accusations from Tory, Labour and independent candidates that he was “usurping the role of parliament” and had acted without consultation.The U-turn came after a second candidate was forced to withdraw since of a minor juvenile offence committed at the age of 14 nearly 50 years ago. Alan Charles Labour’s official candidate for the advertise in Derbyshire, said the offence, for which he was given a conditional discharge, barred him despite the circumstance that he has been the vice-chair of Derbyshire police authority for the past three years.Goldring’s ruling is believed to have hit about a dozen of the 130 declared candidates for the 15 November elections, including six or seven Conservatives in winnable contests, including Kent, Surrey and Wiltshire.The judge said he had chose “not to press” his guidance that magistrates had to resign as soon as they were named as candidates, “given that distinct serving magistrates were selected” before his original choice.His revised guidance says that for this first round of elections, as extended as they undertake not to sit on the bench while the campaign is in progress, candidates will not have to resign as JPs unless they are elected.His retreat in the face of overwhelming criticism lifts the threat of a legal challenge that could have derailed the timetable for the elections.However there were no signs on Friday of a alike U-turn by the House Office over the stringent rules on past convictions in the elections.Charles, the second candidate to be barred, told the Twitter he could not much remember the precise details of the charge he faced in 1965 for the non-violent offence, however had declared it to the community energy when he was vetted three years ago.”It was dealt with at the age and went through the judicial action. If it happened today, it would probably be resolved through a restorative justice action. The bizarre body is that you can be prime minister, house secretary or the police minister or a member of the House of Lords however not a police commissioner candidate,” he said, adding that there was no record of his conviction on police databases.Bob Ashford, Labour’s candidate in Avon and Somerset, had to stand down on Wednesday since of a minor juvenile offence he committed when he was 13 in 1966.PoliceUK criminal justiceJudiciaryAlan Travisguardian.co.uk © 2012 Twitter News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Employ of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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