History

Main role was dealing with criminals, but also exercised certain administrative functions.

The history of lay magistrates (Justices of the Peace, or JPs) dated back to the . There are over 28,000 lay magistrates hearing more than 95% of all criminal cases, and is thus often described as the backbone of the English criminal justice system. Lay magistrates do not receive a salary, but instead receive allowances for travel, subsistence and financial loss. In the magistrates court, there are 129 professional judges who are also known as district judges (magistrates court), following a reform by the

Selection & Appointment

Magistrates are appointed by the Lord Chancellor on the advice of local Advisory Committees.The qualifications for appointment include: - being under 65 - live within 15 miles of working area

- able to devote an average of half a day in a week to the task

- legal knowledge or experience, or academic qualification not essential

In 1998, the Lord Chancellor set out six qualities required of lay magistrates in order to make the appointment criteria clear which are: Maturity & sound temperament

Good character

Understanding & communication

Sound judgement

Social awareness

Commitment & reliability

Ineligible for Appointment

-members of armed forces

-police officers

-traffic wardens

-undischarged bankrupts -those with criminal convictions

work

Magistrates task

-work is incompatible with magistrates task

- disabled who cannot carry out a magistrates task

daughter

father mother

-close relative who is already on the same bench

Courts Act 2003 -Magistrates are appointed nationally rather than locally

Removal & Retirement

CLASS
Approximately of all magistrates come form professional or middleclass occupations

Issue #1
-Although magistrates are required to be given time off work, not all employers are able or willing to pay wages during their absence, which leads to a loss of allowance earnings.

Issue #2
-Employees who take up the appointment as a magistrate against their employers' wishes may jeopardise their promotion prospects, which means that only those who are self-employed or sufficiently stable in their career can serve as a magistrates without risking their career. This causes an under representation of those outside the professional and managerial classes.

AGE
The average age of a magistrate is 57
Issue #1 Issue #2 While maturity is vital, younger magistrates would bring the understanding of the younger generations lifestyle.

RACE

GENDER

There were only 2% of black magistrates in 1987, but just over 6% come from ethnic minority communities in 2003

The gender are relatively balanced among lay magistrates with 51% men and 49% women, however, most district judges are primarily men with only 13 women holding this position.

 The Magistrates Commission Committees provide the training under the supervision of the . The aim of the training is to familiarise them with court procedures, the techniques of chairing, and to undergo 12 hours of basic continuous training every 3 years.

Magistrates sitting in youth courts or domestic court panels receive additional training.

CRIMINAL JURISDICTION Magistrates have three main functions in criminal cases:- hearing applications for bail- trial for the least serious criminal cases where they are advised by a magistrates clerk, but decide on the facts, law and sentence themselves- appeals. ordinary appeals from the magistrates court to the Crown Court, magistrates sit with a judge. however, after the Access to Justice Act 1999, Magistrates other functions:exercise some control over the investigation of crime- deal with applications for bail and requests by the police for arrest and search warrantsJustices of the Peace generally sit in groups of threes.49 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 provides that certain pre-trial judicial powers may be exercised by one lay magistrate sitting aloneThe pre-trial judicial powers include:- decisions to extend or vary the conditions of bail- remit and offender to another court for sentence- provide directions to the proceedings timetable- attendance of the parties- the service of documents- manner in which evidence is to be givenThese powers were applied nationally in November 1999

The role of magistrates in the criminal justice system has been increased in recent yearsSome triable either way offences were made summary only in the Criminal Law Act 1977, where most motoring offences and criminal damage worth less 2000 were made summary offencesThere was controversy when joyriding was made summary, given that it was in fact a serious issueSince then, the more serious joyriding offence, called aggravated vehicle-taking that occurs when joyriding causes serious injury or death, has been reduced to a summary offence by the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.The Ministry of Justice considered halving the workload of magistrates by not requiring a court hearing for relatively minor cases where the defendant pleads guilty, such as:- TV license and council tax evasion- the less serious motoring offences- petty theft (shoplifting)- criminal damage cases (graffiti)Had the reform been introduced, the sentence would be determined by the prosecutor in consultation with the police, with the aim being to reduce the workload of district judges

CIVIL JURISDICTION Magistrates role - Granting licenses to betting shops & casinos -hearing appeals from local authority eg. Pub & restaurant licenses -Jurisdiction on domestic matters - when hearing such cases, courts known as Family Proceedings Court - Child Support Agency has taken over work of fixing child maintenance payments - domestic decisions overlap with jurisdiction of -County Court -Uniformity of approaches encouraged -Appeals go to Family Division of High Court -High Court

For domestic matters

Magistrates -Receive special training -Must contain both male & female

Different procedures and law applied in different courts, cases usually assigned to Magistrates Court - due to financial limits Criticism: -2nd class system of domestic courts for poor - richer use High Court & County Court, where cases are heard by professionals & highly trained judges

JUSTICES CLERKS & LEGAL ADVISORS -250 justices clerks in the country Qualifications

-5 years magistrates court qualifications

-Qualified barrister or solicitor -Right of audience (for all proceedings in Magistrates Court)

*no clear structure, therefore many clerks leave for CPS for better pay & promotion aspects Since 1st January 1999- all newly appointed legal advisors must be barristers/ solicitors -advise lay magistrates on law & procedure -does not take part in any decision making process -legal/ procedural advise given in open court -do not accompany magistrates when they retire

Functions

- pre-trial judicial powers exercised by a single JP can be delegated to justices clerk Independence is guaranteed by

1)Local knowledge - More informed picture of local life than professional judges 3)Lay involvement -An ancient and important tradition of voluntary public service -ensures that courts are aware of community concerns
1782

2)Weight of numbers - Sit in threes, more likely to have a balanced view

4) Costs
- Generally assumed that as lay magistrates are unpaid volunteers, they are much cheaper than professional judges
Research by Rod Morgan & Neil Russell (2000)

DIRECT AVERAGE COSTS (per annum)

495 90,000

Lay Magistrate

District judge (Magistrates Court)

4) Costs
- Generally assumed that as lay magistrates are unpaid volunteers, they are much cheaper than professional judges
Research by Rod Morgan & Neil Russell (2000)

DIRECT + INDIRECT AVERAGE COSTS (per appearance)

Need administrative support

52.10

More likely alternative sentence

61.78

More likely imprisonment

Need support of qualified legal advisors

30 times more efficient

Lay Magistrate

District judge (Magistrates Court)

-Switching to Crown Court cases would be extremely expensive -Reflection of the more serious nature of cases Home Office Research & Planning Unit

Crown Court

Magistrates Court
1,500

Average costs 13,500 of contested trial Guilty pleas 2,500

500

1) Inconsistent
-Concern that magistrates courts around the country were not treating cases alike
-Fair trial: Similar crimes committed in similar circumstances by offenders with similar backgrounds should receive similar punishments -District judges (magistrates court): sentenced higher proportion of offenders to custody than lay magistrates -Granting of bail applications: (1985) magistrates courts in Hampshire granted 89%; Dorset only granted 63% -Sentencing Guidelines Council established to ensure greater consistency -Legally binding sentencing guidelines have been issued for Magistrates -Magistrates have to take into account any relevant guidelines, if a decision is reached that the particular facts of the case justify a sentence outside the range indicated, they must state their reason for doing so

2) Inefficient
Research by Rod Morgan and Neil Russell (2000): -Public largely unaware that there were 2 types of magistrate. - Considered that magistrates court work should be divided equally ;type of magistrate did not matter. -However, professional court users have greater levels of confidence in the district judges (magistrates courts) -Quicker -More efficient -Consistent in decisions -Better controlling unruly defendants -Better at questioning CPS & defence lawyers In practice, guilty pleas to matters are normally dealt with by panels of whereas contested matters are increasingly dealt with by a single, who decides questions of both guilt and sentence. Rod Morgan and Neil Russell question whether the work should be distributed in the opposite way.

3) Bias towards the police

- Police officers are frequent witnesses, well known to magistrates - tendency to believe police evidence
Magistrates were criticised in this respect during the 1984 miners strike for - imposing wide bail conditions which prevented attendance on picket lines - dispensing what appeared to be conveyor-belt justice.

R v Bingham Justices, ex parte Jowitt (1974): a speeding case where the only evidence was that of the motorist and a police constable

Quite the most unpleasant cases that we have to decide are those where the evidence is a direct conflict between a police officer and a member of the public. My principle in such cases has always been to believe the evidence of the police officer, and therefore we find the case proved. The chairman of the bench said Results: Conviction quashed on appeal because of this remark.

4) BACKGROUND
Magistrates are predominantly:

Despite recommendations from: -Royal Commission 1910 -Royal Commission 1948 -Review of Criminal Courts 2001

-middle- aged -strong Conservative bias

-middle class

-unrepresentative of the general public -may weaken confidence in its decisions

Benches do tend to be largely middle to upper class, but that is a characteristic of those set in authority over us, whether in the town hall, Whitehall, hospitals and all manner of institutions.

Elizabeth Burneys 1979 -election methods concluded that the process was almost entirely dominated by existing magistrates who over and over again simply appointed people with similar backgrounds to their own

The Machinery of Justice in England (1989)

1)Professional judges Professional judges could either: OR

In no other jurisdiction do lay judges alone or in panels deal with offences of the seriousness dealt with in the English and Welsh magistrates courts by lay magistrates.
But putting a professional judge in all magistrates court is expensive, and unlikely to happen, though the recommended more use of professional judges.

LAY MAGISTRATES

PROFESSIONAL JUDGE

=
calculated that if the work of lay magistrates was transferred to professional judges, 1 professional judge would be needed for every 30 magistrates replaced.

2)The Role of the Justices Clerk

Current Government moving in direction of increasing justices clerks powers to manage cases, while limiting their administrative functions. -Can also further appoint them to the bench, making them legally qualified chairpersons, or giving them formal powers to rule on all points of law, while leaving the determination of the facts to the lay justices. -In its submission to the , the Association of Magisterial Officers, which represents staff in magistrates courts, called for a major transfer of powers from lay magistrates to justices clerks.
Proposal: Where lay magistrates were involved, they would act as wingers in 3person tribunals chaired by justices clerks. The clerks decision on points of law would be final, but any decision on the facts would be by simple majority.

AGAINST Case management is not an administrative activity but a judicial one. Powers should not be delegated to justices clerks unless they are selected, screened and given the same protection as judges to ensure their independence.

IN SUPPORT The role of lay magistrates should be restricted to arbiters of fact. Justices clerks would take on full responsibility for all pre-trial issues apart from the grant or removal of bail.

Association of Magisterial Officers (representing staff in magistrates court)

-Sir Robin Auld REJECTED this & recommended that the role of justices clerks remain UNCHANGED.
Professor Penny Darbyshire (1999)

3)The Selection Process

The Review of the Criminal Courts (Auld 2001) recommended magistrates reflect more broadly the communities they serve.

-Increased loss of earnings allowances and crche facilities at courts (to help young parents) attract a varied range of candidates.

-Legislation preventing employers from discriminating against magistrates would be difficult to enforce, but might at least make employers more wary about discrimination, thus encourage more working class and younger applicants.

-Membership of local Advisory Committees broadened to include members of the ethnic minorities and the working class, drawn from community organisations & trade unions.

-Local Advisory Committees should have the information needed to enable them to submit for consideration for appointment candidates that will produce and maintain benches broadly reflective of the communities they serve, including the establishment and maintenance of national and local databases of information on the make-up of the local community and on the composition of the local magistracy.

4)Improvements in consistency
Achieving precise uniformity in sentencing and the granting of bail throughout the country is impossible, given the number of cases handled by magistrates courts (95% of all criminal cases)
More detailed guidelines Regularly updated guidelines

Help curb more significant variations

More training Supervision by higher courts

4)A District Division

Review of the criminal courts by Sir Robin Auld: central recommendation -a new criminal court be created (though it would for administrative purposes be a division of a court), called the . Instead of having a separate Crown Court and magistrates court, there would be a single unified criminal court containing three divisions.

CRIMINAL COURT
MAGISTRATES DIVISION (currently Magistrates Court) CROWN DIVISION (currently Crown Court)

(new)

Cases before the would be heard by: 1 judge and 2 lay magistrates. Dealing with a middle range of either way cases which were unlikely to attract a sentence of more than 2 years imprisonment, including most burglaries, thefts and some assault cases.

Judge- determine question of law

Judge & lay magistrates- decide on facts

Order of proceedings = same as in the Crown Division. The judge would rule on matters of law, procedure and inadmissibility of evidence, in the absence of the magistrates. The judge would retire with magistrates to consider the courts decision. Verdicts are reached together, each having vote. The judge would give a reasoned judgment and have sole responsibility for sentencing. No right to jury trial. Instead, cases are allocated by magistrates to the relevant Division according to seriousness. These recommendations would not only significantly increase the role of magistrates in the criminal justice system, but also represent a major attack on jury trials, as cases heard by a jury are significantly reduced. : by supporters of the jury system. It is questionable whether it saved costs. Results: the Government REJECTED these recommendations.

5)Community Justice Centres

The Government has set up some pilot community justice centres which are modelled on similar centres that have been established in the US.
North Liverpool Community Justice Centre

Aim:
1) Bring together the courts and a range of relevant agencies, eg. social services and drug charities, to tackle the underlying problems in a community that lead to crime and antisocial behaviour. 2) develop crime prevention and to solve community problems. The centres also offer mediation for minor disputes.