Magistrates

Question 1

Tell me about magistrates

Answer 1

-Lay magistrates are volunteers.not legally qualified. They sit in benches of three in the Magistrates Court. make up 85% of the judicial community.

• They do not get a salary but will receive expenses, for example for travel and subsistence and a loss of earnings allowance.
• Magistrates are required to sit for at least 13 days/26 half-days each year
• Once appointed a magistrate is assigned to a Local Justice Area, which is near to their home or work, but they all have national jurisdiction under the Courts Act 2003.
• There is approximately the same number of male and female magistrates

Question 2

Criminal jurisdiction of magistrates?

Answer 2

Magistrates hear 95% of all criminal cases, they usually try summary offences, such as lesser serious assault and criminal damage, drink driving and football offences. The also deal with lots of traffic cases such as no insurance, failing to stop at an accident, defective tyres etc. They also hear environmental cases such as pollution, health and safety cases and cruelty to animals .
-Magistrates have to decide if someone is guilty/innocent, whether a defendant should be allowed to have bail and the appropriate sentence when defendants either plead or are found guilty.

• Magistrates can sentence up to 6 months, and since s85 Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 can impose an unlimited fine in certain cases.
• All criminal cases start in the Magistrates’ Court, even if only for them to pass the case to the Crown Court e.g for longer sentence

Question 3

CIVIL jurisdiction of magistrates

Answer 3

Magistrates also hear some civil and family cases involving:
Unpaid Council Tax
TV licence evasion
Child custody and adoption
Care orders for children
Only experienced magistrates who have had special training can hear family cases and cases in the Youth Court.

Question 4

Who appoints magistrates

Answer 4

Until 2013, the Lord Chancellor was responsible for appointing Magistrates, but they are now appointed by the Lord Chief Justice

Question 5

Some requirements to become a magistrate

Answer 5

• aged 18‒70, although the Senior Presiding Judge will not generally appoint anyone over 65
• not have any serious criminal convictions
• not have been banned from driving in the past 5‒10 years
• not been declared bankrupt
• not work in a job where there may be a conflict of interest – e.g. police officer

Question 6

Where to apply to become a magistrate

Answer 6

Candidates usually apply, either in response to advertisements, or directly to the secretary of a local Advisory Committee (LAC) or to the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

Advertisements may be placed in local papers, community noticeboard, on local radio and in some counties on buses!

Question 7

What happens in the interviews to become a magistrate

Answer 7

Interview 1: the panel will assess whether the candidate has the six key qualities and will assess their attitudes to various aspects of criminal justice, such as drink driving.

Interview 2: this will test a candidate’s judicial aptitude through the discussion of case studies which would be typical of those heard by Magistrates.

Question 8

Lay magistrates training

Answer 8

• Initial Training
• Mentoring
• Core Training
• Consolidation TraininG
• First appraisal

Question 9

For the training process,what happens in ‘initial training’ for magistrates?

Answer 9

This is where the magistrate will learn the basics of the role.will observe other magistrates.
FIRST STAGE

Question 10

For the training process,what happens in the Mentoring stage to become a magistrate?

Answer 10

Each new magistrate will have a specially trained mentor allocated and they should have 6 formal mentored settings within the first 18 months and also keep a Personal Development Log.
SECCOND STAGE

Question 11

For the training process,what happens in the Core Training stage to become a magistrate?

Answer 11

This involves visits to penal institutions and working through a Core Workbook for self study to equip them with key knowledge
THIRD STAGE

Question 12

For the training process,what happens in the Consolidate training to become a magistrate?

Answer 12

This happens at the end of the first year and builds on sittings to prepare magistrates for their first appraisal.
FOURTH STAGE

Question 13

For the training process,what happens in the First Appraisal to become a magistrate?

Answer 13

The mentor and magistrate will agree after 12-18 months that the new magistrate now demonstrates competence in the role.
LAST STAGE

Question 14

Magistrate numbers are falling currently because

Answer 14

• magistrates no longer hear cases on licensing and anti social behaviour,
• crime is falling generally
• many crimes are being dealt with using out of court disposals.

Question 15

Talk about the justices clerk

Answer 15

Every Bench of magistrates is assisted by a clerk, or a legal adviser.
Every justices’ clerk has to be qualified as a solicitor or barrister for at least five years.
Their role is to advise the magistrates on issues of law and procedure in the Magistrates’ Courts; this is set out in s28 Courts Act 2003
The clerk is not permitted to assist the magistrates in their decision making.

Question 16

Advantages of magistates

Answer 16

• Magistrates provide a better representation of society than professional judges – 56 % of lay magistrates are women.
• Magistrates will normally live or work within the area in which they sit, although this is no longer a formal requirement (they know the area better)

-The use of lay magistrates is cheap as they only have to be paid for their expenses and subsistence.

• The availability of a justices’ clerk is also seen as an advantage as there is constant access to advice on points of law and procedure.
• There are very few appeals from the Magistrates’ Court suggesting that they are doing a good job.

Question 17

Disadvantages of magistrates

Answer 17

• There are areas of society which are very under represented – for example, lots of magistrates are from the middle classes or hold managerial occupations. This therefore offers the question of whether they do really have a good local knowledge of the poorer areas in their locality.
• Over the last few years, Magistrates’ Courts have been closing which can cause problems of access for some people and we are therefore increasingly losing the ‘local knowledge’ aspect.
• There is a low acquittal rate in the Magistrates Court which does suggest that there may be some prosecution bias. This may also be due to the fact that they will see the same representatives from the police and Crown Prosecution Service time and again.
• Magistrates are often criticised for relying too heavily on the justices’ clerk.

Question 18

Where can a magistrate be dismissed

Answer 18

s11 of the Courts Act 2003 provides that the Lord Chief Justice can remove a lay magistrate from office:
on the ground of incapacity or misbehaviour,
on the ground of a persistent failure to meet such standards of competence as are prescribed by a direction given by the Lord Chief Justice, or
if he is satisfied that the lay justice is declining or neglecting to take a proper part in the exercise of his functions as a justice of the peace.

Question 19

The importance of laypeople in the english legal system

Answer 19

The term ‘lay people’ is used to describe the use of ordinary, non-qualified people in the legal system. It is believed that by using ordinary people in courts it makes the system fairer and avoids people criticising the court for making decisions behind closed doors.