What are magistrates?
Magistrates are volunteer judges. They are not paid for the work they do except for expenses.
Explain the role of the district judge in the magistrates court?
- They are qualified solicitors or barristers with at least 5 years rights of audience or experience.
- Sit alone to hear criminal cases youth cases and also some civil proceedings in magistrates courts.
- Can be authorised to hear cases in the family court.
- Some are authorised to deal with terrorist cases
- More legally complex or serious cases in the magistrates court are reserved to these judges.
What is the role of the magistrates?
- Deal with over 95% of all criminal offences and have a role in all criminal cases.
- They work in a bench in a team of three. One is the chairperson of the bench.
- They hear less serous cases, commit serious cases to the crown court, give bail applications, fine enforcement and search warrants.
As magistrates are not qualified lawyers they are assisted by
What is the role of the magistrates?
- Deal with over 95% of all criminal offences and have a role in all criminal cases.
- They work in a bench in a team of three. One is the chairperson of the bench.
- They hear less serous cases, commit serious cases to the crown court, give bail applications, fine enforcement and search warrants.
As magistrates are not qualified lawyers they are assisted by a legal adviser known as they clerk who’s job is to advise the Magistrates on the relevant law, practice and procedure, including sentencing options and to ensure that all relevant paperwork and exhibits are ready for the case hearing
- The role of the magistrates is to listen to the evidence and decide based on their findings whether the defendant is innocent or guilty.
- To do this they sit on a bench of 3 and can decide unanimously or by a majority.
Explain the role of the magistrates in the youth court.
- There will be specially trained magistrates to deal with defendants aged 10-17. Always one man and one women on the bench
What are the qualification require to become a magistrate?
- No formal qualifications are requires
- 18-65. Retire at 70
- Expected to serve for at least 5 years
- Should be available for 13 days or 26 half days per year
What are the reasons why someone can not be a magistrate ?
- If guilty of serious crime or number of minor offences
- If they are bankrupt or banned from driving
- Are a police office, Conflict of interest
What are the basic requirements to become a magistrate?
Should have 6 key qualities
- Good character
- Understanding and communication
- Social awareness
- Maturity
- Sound judgment
- Commitment and reliability
and
- Willingness to take oath of allegiance
and
- Disclose all criminal convictions and civil orders
How are magistrates selected and appointed?
- Advert is placed in a local newspaper
- Apply in home or work area
- Fill in application form for eligibility check
- First interview with local advisory committee
- Second interview - practical case examples and background checks. View of the LAC is sent to the lord chancellor and sos for justice
- Appointment
Magistrates must represent the community. Regard is had to the balance of the bench in terms of gender, ethnicity and age.
Explain the training of magistrates ?
- Training is carried out locally often by the Clerk of the court
- All magistrates are trained before sitting and throughout service
- Magistrates training is based on competences which means things a magistrate needs to know and be able to do in order to do this job
What are the competences for magistrates?
- Manage yourself- Preparing for court, conduct in court and outgoing learning
- Working in a team- team aspects of decision making
- Making judicial decisions- How to make impartial and structured decisions
- Managing judicial decision making (chair only) working with legal advisor, managing the court
What are the stages of training?
1) Initial introductory training- Basics of role before sitting in court
2) Mentoring- Specially trained magistrate mentor. Formal sessions in first 12-18 months
3) Core training- Prison visits and observations in first year
4) Consolidation training- End of the first year. Builds on core training - helps prepare for appraisal
5) First appraisal- After 12-18 months- Checks competences
Magistrates will be continually trained in after this in order to maintain their competences and keep them updated on new legislation and procedures
Why is inexpensive an advantage?
One advantage of magistrates is that they are relatively inexpensive. It is said that the cost of replacing then with 1000 qualified judges would be £100 million pounds. They are cheap because they are unpaid so the majority of criminal cases are heard without the need for a professional judge.
Why is representative an advantage of magistrates?
One advantage of magistrates is that they are also representative of the population in terms of gender and ethnicity. 55% of magistrates are women and 12% are from BAME backgrounds a 4% increase from 2012 and close to the 13% of the population who are from these backgrounds. This is good because it means that magistrates are representative of and can understand the communities which they serve.
Why is local knowledge an advantage?
Another advantage of magistrates is their local knowledge. Time is saved by not having to explain the location of crime. Decisions can take into account local problems and sentencing can be sensitive and appropriate. In Paul v DPP magistrates had to decide whether a kerb crawler was likely to be a nuisance to other persons. The magistrates knew the area and knew kerb crawling was a real problem. Lord Woolf commented that this was exactly the sort of case where a magistrates local knowledge was appropriate.
Why is appeals an advantage of magistrates?
Another advantage of magistrates is that from nearly 2 million cases there are only a small number of appeals and most of these are against sentence not the finding of guilt. In most years there are about 5-6000 appeals and less than half of these are successful. This shows us that the quality of decisions making by magistrates is reasonably high even though they are volunteers with no legal qualifications.
Why is being tried by peers an advantage of magistrates?
Another advantage is that there is a long established tradition in the UK of being tried by your peers. This should lead to fairness and an open trial. Many believe they will get a fairer hearing if there are led professional or state involvement. This leads to open trails and justice being done and being seen to be done. This is a vital part of an open and democratic country.
Why is undemocratic a disadvantage of magistrates?
Magistrates are unrepresentative of society in terms of age. 55% of magistrates in 2018 were 60 or over and only 1% came from the 18-29 ages bracket. Only 5% are under 40. Therefore in terms of age magistrates do not truly reflect the society they serve and may be out of touch
Why is inconsistent sentencing a disadvantage of magistrates?
Another disadvantage of magistrates is that they are inconsistent in their sentencing. In 2005 Bath magistrates sentenced 14% of defendants to prison for ABH whilst Bristol magistrates sentenced 26% of defendants to prison for the same crime. This does not seem to have improved despite the training that magistrates receive. This is a problem because injustice should be consistent and not vary if it is to accord with the rule of law
Why is case hardened a disadvantage of magistrates?
Another disadvantage of magistrates is that they are also seen as case hardened. This means that magistrates hear similar case and evidence often from the same police officers and CPS solicitors and may be more likely to believe it. Although this is inevitable as magistrates court are local it can lead to a suspicion that the evidence is not really considered and convictions are rubber stamped. This can lead to a suspicion that there is a bias towards the police and the prosecution.
Why is relying on the legal adviser a disadvantage?
Another disadvantage is that there is a suspicion that magistrates rely too much on the legal adviser. Technically the adviser is not allowed to help the magistrates decide on the sentence but if defendants see the advisers going in and out of the magistrates room they may feel that the magistrates are not making their own decisions. However the lack of legal knowledge by the magistrates is offset by the facy that a legally qualified clerk is avavible to give advice
