LAY MAGISTRATES

• What requirements are there to be a lay magistrate?

  Aged between 18 and 65

  Live or work within or near the local justice area

  Be able to commit 26 half days a year
• What are the six key qualities that the Lord Chancellor set out?

  Good character - integrity, respect etc

  Understanding and communication

  Social awareness

  Maturity and sound temperament

  Sound judgement

  Commitment and reliability
• Who is disqualified from being a lay magistrate?

  Police officers

  Members of the armed forces

  Those guilty of criminal convictions or multiple serious offences

  Declared bankrupt or banned from driving

  Hard of hearing

  Probation officers
• What are local advisory committees?

  Committee of up to 12 people who encourage a wide range of potential candidates to put themselves forward as lay magistrates.
• Lay magistrate selection process

  • Filling out an application form
  • First interview - panel finds out about the person’s attributes and attitudes on various criminal injustices
  • Second interview - Testing judicial aptitude through case studies, i.e. sentencing
• Magistrates normally work as a bench of 2 or 3; a chairman, and one or two wingmen.
• Magistrates try 97% of all criminal cases
• What roles do magistrates have in criminal cases?

  Granting search and arrest warrants to the police

  Consider applications for bail

  In serious cases, they consider requests for an extension in police custody up to a maximum of 96 hours
• What are the magistrates roles in summary offences?

  Deal with the case from start to finish

  Hear evidence from the prosecution and defendant, plus any legal arguments

  Decide if the defendant id guilty or not guilty

  If the defendant is guilty, they decide on a sentence
• What powers of sentencing do magistrates have?

  One offence - prison for up to 6 months

  Two offences - prison for up to 12 months

  Unlimited fines
• What is the magistrates role for triable either way offences?

  Deal with plea before venue hearings
• What is the magistrates role in indictable offences?

  Holding an Early Administrative Hearing before transferring the case to the Crown Court
• How can lay magistrates hear in the youth court?

  By being specially nominated
• How do magistrates hear appeals?

  They can sit in the Crown Court as an appeal judge with another lay magistrate and a qualified judge
• Five stages of training as a lay magistrate

  • Initial introductory training
  • Mentoring
  • Core training
  • Consolidation training
  • First appraisal
• Advantages of having lay magistrates

  • Democratic - allows people from the area to participate
  • Good representation of society - 54% are women, lay magistrates are from the local area
  • There are few appeals from the magistrates‘ court, meaning that they are doing their job correctly and sufficiently
  • Training is given so they are able to do their job properly, as well as having a legal clerk
• Disadvantages of having lay magistrates

  • Few magistrates are from BAME backgrounds (12%) - limits usefulness
  • Time commitment and a lack of pay deters younger and less wealthy individuals from magistracy, majority of magistrates are from the middle class
  • Middle aged, middle class makes them out of touch with most defendants
  • Inconsistencies in sentencing cause a geographical lottery