Lay Magistrates

Question 1

What are lay magistrates

Answer 1

• Unpaid part time judges who have no professional qualifications
• also known as justices of peace
• 17,500 in England and wales
• sit as a bench of 2 or 3. If there is a single magistrates, their powers are limited
• mist be ages between 18-65 on appointments, but can serve until 70
• must live and work within their allocated local justice area
• unpaid apart from expenses
• must commit to sitting at least 26 half days a year

Question 2

Who is barred from becoming a lay magistrates?

Answer 2

• people with serious criminal convicts
• police officers
• traffic wardens
• relatives of police officers and traffic wardens
• their hearing is impaired
• undischarged bankrupts
• members of the forces
• close relatives cannot be appointed to the same bench either

Question 3

The 6 key qualifications of a lay magistrates

Answer 3

• good character
• understanding and communication
• social awareness
• maturity and sound temperament
• sound judgement
• commitment and reliability
• must have a certain ‘judical’ qualities
• they must also be able you take account of the reasoning of others and work as a team

Question 4

Section and appointment

Answer 4

• about 700 appointed each year
  -appointment are made by the lord chief justice who delegates to a senior presiding judge
• recommendations are then made by a local advisory committee. Members tends to be ex justices of the peace, a maximum of 12 members, mixture of mags and non mags
• positions are widely advertised and anybody can become a magistrate
• 2 stage interview process
• successful candidates have their names submitted by the panel to the lord chief justice who then makes the appointments
• the aim is to recruit a slate of candidates that reflects as board a composition of society as possible. There are 11 broad categories of occupational backgrounds laid down by the lord chancellor and no more than 15% can come from one category alone

Question 5

2 stage interview process

Answer 5

• the first interview is mostly about the candidates personal attributes
• the second tests judical aptitude by looking at individual studies

Question 6

Magistrates in criminal cases

Answer 6

• all criminal cases begin in a magistrates court
• magistrates pass the most serious crimes e.g, murder to the crown court. Magistrates decide if the defendant should be:
• kept in custody
• let out in strict conditions

Question 7

What crimes to magistrates deal with

Answer 7

• minor assaults
• motoring offences
• theft
• handling stolen goods

Question 8

What punishments can magistrates give

Answer 8

• fines
• unpaid work in the community
• prison for up to 6 months (or up to 12 months for more than 1 crime)

Question 9

Composition of the bench

Answer 9

• 53% are women. Only 22% of high court judges and above are female
• 11% are from ethnic minority backgrounds. Less than 5% of the professional judiciary are
• adverts have been placed in the Caribbean times, the Asian times and Muslim news
• 4% have a disability

Question 10

Role of the magistrate

Answer 10

most of the magistrates work is on criminal cases:
- summary cases and triable either way if the defendant has chosen to be tried in the magistrates court
- deal with most of the preliminary work: early administrative hearings, remand hearings and bail applications
- hold trials where the defendant has pleaded not guilty and sentence when they have pleaded guilty
- can imprisons an offender for up to 6 months for one offence, 12 for two
- can also make community orders, fine defendants, disqualify them from driving and issue discharges

Question 11

The role of magistrates in youth cases

Answer 11

• youth court panels must usually include one man and one women
• magistrates must be specially nominated and trained to carry out these hearings
• magistrates can also hear appeals at the crown court from the magistrates court where tow lay justices will hear the appeal worth a qualified judge

Question 12

Training to be a magistrate

Answer 12

• training is supervised by the magisterial committee of the judical college and carried out locally
• the trining adds up to about 21 hours, or 3 and a half days, as well as some meetings
• the training could take place over:
• a long weekend
• weekdays
• short evening session over several weeks
• three parts to the syllabus:
  1. Initial introductory training - the role, responsibility, duty, administration etc
  2. Core training - acquiring and developing the key skills for a competent magistrate
  3. Activities - observations of court sittings, visits to a prions, probation office etc

Question 13

The magistrates clerk

Answer 13

• legal adviser to the bench
• senior clerk must be qualified as either a barrister or solicitor for at least 5 years
• guides the magistrates on questions of law, practise and procedure
• is not meant to assist the magistrates in decision making
• deal mainly with routine administrative, issuing warrants for arrest, extending police bail, adjourning criminal proceedings and dealing with early administrative hearings

Question 14

Advantages of lay magistrates

Answer 14

• represent a cross section of society
• good local knowledge
• cost
• training
• legal advice available through the clerk
• most defendants accept judgments and there are very few appeals

Question 15

Disadvantages of lay magistrates

Answer 15

• middle aged, middle class and unlikely to live in poorer areas, therefore not truly aware of an areas problem. 40% are retired, average age is 50
• inconsistency in sentencing
• over reliance on the clerk
• prosecution bias