Lay People = ordinary people in society who participate in the legal system without legal qualifications
Magistracy = 2-3 people in a panel
Lord Chancellor set out 6 qualities that lay magistrate candidates must possess:
Good character
Understanding and communication
Social awareness
Maturity and sound temperament
Sound judgement
Commitment and reliability
Lay Magistrates Requirements:
Aged 18-65 (only 4% under 40)
Prepared to commit to sitting in court for at least 26 half days each year
Live within/near justice area
Restrictions on appointment:
With serious criminal convictions
Undischarged bankruptcy
Members of the armedforce
Police officers/traffic wardens
Those with relatives in the criminaljusticesystem
Those in the process at seekingasylum
People with hearing impaired of have a disability that can impede them from carrying on their role
Appointment of Magistrates:
Appointment made by Lord Chancellor on behalf of the king
To decide who to appoint, the Lord Chancellor relies on recommendations made to him by the Local Advisory Committee
Adverts placed in newspapers, websites, etc, to create a panel that represents society
Local Advisory Committee:
109 advisory committees across the country
Maximum of 12 members per committee, mixture of magistrates and non-magistrates
Interview Stages:
The panel finds out more about the candidate's personal attributes and tries to see if the candidate has the 6 key characteristics. Also explores candidates views on various criminal issues
Testing candidate's judicialability by discussing 2+ cases that are typically heard at the Magistrates Court, discussing the type of sentence that should be given
Advisory Committee submits suitable candidates names to Lord Chancellor who then appoints from the list
Composition of the bench
According to the Judiciary in the Magistrates Court 2002 Report, lay magistrates:
were often drawn from professional and managerial ranks
Approximately 40% of them were retired from full-timeemployment
The bench became balanced in 2009:
Approx 50% of magistrates were women
Over 7% of magistrates from ethnicminorities (as a result of campaigns to attract a wider range e.g Lord Chancellors major campaign March 1999, adverts in CaribbeanTimes,MuslimNews)
Training of Magistrates:
Is supervised by the Magistrates Committee of the Judicial Studies Board, who draws up a syllabus of topics (the courtclerk carries out training)
Since 1998 magistrates training has been monitored more closely as they were previously criticised that there were no assessments of how much they had understood
Stages of Magistrate Training:
Induction = lectures, visits to courts/prisons
Practical training 199 Magistrates New Training Initiative introduced and reformed in 2004 = Now, Magistrates are provided with a mentor to assist them, and they keep a personal development log of their progress
Framework of training divided into 4 areas of competence: Managing yourself, working as a member of a team, making judicial decisions, managing judicial decision-making
Magistrates duties:
Sit in groups of 3. The chair (middle) talks and is in charge of the conduct of the trial. On either side are the wingers
Magistrates mainly have criminaljurisdiction (authority)
Magistrates are the 'backbone of the criminaljusticesystem' because they deal with 97% of all criminal cases
Magistrates Criminal Jurisdiction:
Magistrates deal with preliminary hearings (EAH, bail, plea before venue)
Deal with trials of summary/triable either way offences
Magistrates Civil Jurisdiction:
Enforcing debts owed to utility companies
Enforcing counciltax debts
Non-payments of TV license
Retirement of Magistrates:
Retirement is age 70, but after 70 they can be placed on the supplemental list to be eligible to apply for reinstatement (work from 70-75)
Can continue to carry out administrative functions
Removal of Magistrates:
S11 of the Courts Act 2003 gives power to Lord Chancellor to remove a lay magistrate:
Incapacity/misbehaviour
Fails to meet standards of competence
If neglecting to take proper part in their function