Issuing court summons

House of Lords did not have the information requested.

Patrick Moloney

Dear House of Lords,

Could you please provide me with the following information please

1) Is the signature at the bottom of each summons issued the signature of the person who authorised the summons be issued
2) Do all signatures relating to the issuing of a summons have to be the same
EXAMPLE
A council issue summonses for non payment of council tax with 1 signature on the summonses but another signature on the documents authorising the summonses to be issued
3) Would these summonses be considered "bad" as stated in Common Law
"R. v. BrentfordJustices ex parte Catlin 1975

where Lord Chief Justice Widgery said:“It is perfectly proper for a signature to be affixed by way of rubber stamp, whether applied by the justice or by a clerk or an employee of the magistrates’ clerk with the authority, general or specific, of the justice, and that conclusion, but for one matter, would be sufficient in my view to dispose of this application, because assuming that an information was indeed laid before the justice whose signature in facsimile form subsequently appeared on the summons then all the applicant’s attack on the subsequent proceedings would fall to the ground straight away and it would not be necessary to consider the other points raised in this application. However in this case it may be that, as the applicant I think wished this court to infer from the document before it, the justice before whom the information was originally laid was not the one whose signature appeared on the summons in facsimile form, and indeed I think the applicant would go further and say that this court should infer in all the circumstances of this case and proceeded on the basis that no information was ever placed before any justice prior to the issue of the summons; the summons was a mere creature of a clerk in the magistrates’ court office. It is not necessary to embark on an examination of that aspect of the matter; indeed this court would be quite unable to do so in view of the material before it, but counsel for the justices conceded certainly that if the summons had come into existence in the manner which I last referred to, namely as a purely administrative operation without any information being laid, then the summons would be bad."

Yours faithfully,

Patrick Moloney

HL External Communications Office, House of Lords



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HL FOI & Information Compliance, House of Lords

Dear Mr Moloney,

 

I am writing in response to your request (copied below) to the House of
Lords Administration. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the FOIA”)
provides a right of access, subject to specified exemptions, to recorded
information held by a public authority. In the case of the House of Lords,
the rights of access apply to recorded information held by the House of
Lords Administration.

 

The House Administration does not hold information relevant to your
request.

 

Your questions appear to relate more to the application of law than to
information held by a public authority. We cannot provide you with legal
advice but you may wish to consult the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, which
offers a free advice service.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Kimberley Swift

Information Compliance Team

House of Lords

 

 

From: Patrick Moloney <[1][FOI #588519 email]>
Sent: 10 July 2019 12:27
To: HL External Communications Office <[2][email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Issuing court summons

 

Dear House of Lords,

Could you please provide me with the following information please

1) Is the signature at the bottom of each summons issued the signature of
the person who authorised the summons be issued
2) Do all signatures relating to the issuing of a summons have to be the
same
EXAMPLE
A council issue summonses for non payment of council tax with 1 signature
on the summonses but another signature on the documents authorising the
summonses to be issued
3) Would these summonses be considered "bad" as stated in Common Law
"R. v. BrentfordJustices ex parte Catlin 1975

where Lord Chief Justice Widgery said:“It is perfectly proper for a
signature to be affixed by way of rubber stamp, whether applied by the
justice or by a clerk or an employee of the magistrates’ clerk with the
authority, general or specific, of the justice, and that conclusion, but
for one matter, would be sufficient in my view to dispose of this
application, because assuming that an information was indeed laid before
the justice whose signature in facsimile form subsequently appeared on the
summons then all the applicant’s attack on the subsequent proceedings
would fall to the ground straight away and it would not be necessary to
consider the other points raised in this application. However in this case
it may be that, as the applicant I think wished this court to infer from
the document before it, the justice before whom the information was
originally laid was not the one whose signature appeared on the summons in
facsimile form, and indeed I think the applicant would go further and say
that this court should infer in all the circumstances of this case and
proceeded on the basis that no information was ever placed before any
justice prior to the issue of the summons; the summons was a mere creature
of a clerk in the magistrates’ court office. It is not necessary to embark
on an examination of that aspect of the matter; indeed this court would be
quite unable to do so in view of the material before it, but counsel for
the justices conceded certainly that if the summons had come into
existence in the manner which I last referred to, namely as a purely
administrative operation without any information being laid, then the
summons would be bad."

Yours faithfully,

Patrick Moloney

-------------------------------------------------------------------

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show quoted sections

Dear House of Lords,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of House of Lords's handling of my FOI request 'Issuing court summons'.

[ GIVE DETAILS ABOUT YOUR COMPLAINT HERE ]
I am asking for information relating to both common law and legislation

LEGISLATION PASSED BY BOTH HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT WHICH I BELIEVE THAT THE HOUSE OF LORDS IS PART OF SO YOU DO HOLD THE INFORMATION REQUESTED

As the information relates to Legislation voted on by the members of The House of Lords you should have recorded the LAWS OF THE LAND passed by the members of the House Of Lords somewhere do you not think?

Now answer my questions as they relate to laws passed and are not for legal advice or about policy however illegal it may be

Now I am sick and tired of people like you warping and polluting the laws of the land for your own means and then wondering why people are abusing you in the streets

Do the job you are paid to do and supply the information I have requested and provide me with the appropriate legislation

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/i...

Yours faithfully,

Patrick Moloney

HL FOI & Information Compliance, House of Lords

Dear Mr Moloney,

 

I am writing in response to your e-mail of 11 August.

 

The questions you asked in your original email were as follows:

 

“1) Is the signature at the bottom of each summons issued the signature of
the person who authorised the summons be issued
2) Do all signatures relating to the issuing of a summons have to be the
same.

EXAMPLE
A council issue summonses for non payment of council tax with 1 signature
on the summonses but another signature on the documents authorising the
summonses to be issued
3) Would these summonses be considered "bad" as stated in Common Law.”

 

The rights of access under the FOI Act apply to recorded information held
by a public authority (in this case House of Lords Administration).
As guidance produced by the Information Commissioner’s Office explains 
“Your request can be in the form of a question, rather than a request for
specific documents, but the authority does not have to answer your
question if this would mean creating new information or giving an opinion
or judgment that is not already recorded.”

[1]https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/offici...

The Administration does not hold the answers to your specific questions
and is not required to undertake research or provide you with advice on
this matter.

 

Please note, we find the tone of your email unnecessary, you should be
aware that public authorities are able to refuse to respond to requests
they consider vexatious, (this includes those they consider aggressive or
abusive) so you may wish to adopt a more polite tone in any future
correspondence with public authorities.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Frances Grey

Head of Information Compliance

House of Lords

 

From: Patrick Moloney <[2][FOI #588519 email]>
Sent: 11 August 2019 11:35
To: HL External Communications Office <[3][email address]>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Issuing court
summons

 

Dear House of Lords,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information
reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of House of Lords's handling of
my FOI request 'Issuing court summons'.

[ GIVE DETAILS ABOUT YOUR COMPLAINT HERE ]
I am asking for information relating to both common law and legislation

LEGISLATION PASSED BY BOTH HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT WHICH I BELIEVE THAT THE
HOUSE OF LORDS IS PART OF SO YOU DO HOLD THE INFORMATION REQUESTED

As the information relates to Legislation voted on by the members of The
House of Lords you should have recorded the LAWS OF THE LAND passed by the
members of the House Of Lords somewhere do you not think?

Now answer my questions as they relate to laws passed and are not for
legal advice or about policy however illegal it may be

Now I am sick and tired of people like you warping and polluting the laws
of the land for your own means and then wondering why people are abusing
you in the streets

Do the job you are paid to do and supply the information I have requested
and provide me with the appropriate legislation

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address:
[4]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/i...

Yours faithfully,

Patrick Moloney

Dear House of Lords,

Could you please provide me with the following information please

1) Is the signature at the bottom of each summons issued the signature of
the person who authorised the summons be issued
2) Do all signatures relating to the issuing of a summons have to be the
same
EXAMPLE
A council issue summonses for non payment of council tax with 1 signature
on the summonses but another signature on the documents authorising the
summonses to be issued
3) Would these summonses be considered "bad" as stated in Common Law
"R. v. BrentfordJustices ex parte Catlin 1975

where Lord Chief Justice Widgery said:“It is perfectly proper for a
signature to be affixed by way of rubber stamp, whether applied by the
justice or by a clerk or an employee of the magistrates’ clerk with the
authority, general or specific, of the justice, and that conclusion, but
for one matter, would be sufficient in my view to dispose of this
application, because assuming that an information was indeed laid before
the justice whose signature in facsimile form subsequently appeared on the
summons then all the applicant’s attack on the subsequent proceedings
would fall to the ground straight away and it would not be necessary to
consider the other points raised in this application. However in this case
it may be that, as the applicant I think wished this court to infer from
the document before it, the justice before whom the information was
originally laid was not the one whose signature appeared on the summons in
facsimile form, and indeed I think the applicant would go further and say
that this court should infer in all the circumstances of this case and
proceeded on the basis that no information was ever placed before any
justice prior to the issue of the summons; the summons was a mere creature
of a clerk in the magistrates’ court office. It is not necessary to embark
on an examination of that aspect of the matter; indeed this court would be
quite unable to do so in view of the material before it, but counsel for
the justices conceded certainly that if the summons had come into
existence in the manner which I last referred to, namely as a purely
administrative operation without any information being laid, then the
summons would be bad."

Yours faithfully,

Patrick Moloney

 

UK Parliament Disclaimer: this e-mail is confidential to the intended
recipient. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender and
delete it from your system. Any unauthorised use, disclosure, or copying
is not permitted. This e-mail has been checked for viruses, but no
liability is accepted for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by
this e-mail. This e-mail address is not secure, is not encrypted and
should not be used for sensitive data.

References

Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/offici...
2. mailto:[FOI #588519 email]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/i...