The Lay Magistracy
How the system works
11.1 Magistrates are volunteers drawn from all walks of life. They are not legally qualified but are given appropriate training to undertake their duties. They usually sit in panels of three and are advised on matters of law by legally qualified clerks. Over 95% of all criminal cases are dealt with by lay magistrates. They also decide many civil matters, particularly in relation to family work, hear licensing applications and deal with requests for warrants for arrest and search.
Applications and appointments in 2002-2003
11.2 Annex B contains a breakdown of the magistracy in England and Wales (including the Duchy of Lancaster) by age, gender, ethnic origin and political affiliation.
11.3 Detailed statistics on the number of applications and appointments made during 2002-2003 are in Annex C (tables 41 and 42). In all 1,410 people (714 men and 696 women) were newly appointed as magistrates (excluding appointments in the Duchy of Lancaster). Of these, 115 (60 men and 55 women) were of minority ethnic origin, that is 8.2% of the total number of new appointments. Additionally, 54 people (32 men and 20 women) were re-appointed.
11.4 The tables below show the number of men and women appointed since 1997 and the number of people of minority ethnic origin appointed since 1994. The figures are for calendar years until 1998 and for financial years from 1998/1999. Figures are also available in Annex C (tables 43 and 44) for appointments in the Duchy of Lancaster.
Developments in 2002-2003
11.5 During the year work to develop a national strategy for the recruitment of magistrates has been completed. This was due to be launched by Lord Falconer in the autumn of this year. The objectives of the strategy include:
11.6 In June 2001 a magistrates' shadowing scheme was launched, in co-operation with Operation Black Vote and the Magistrates' Courts Service. The scheme aimed to improve awareness of the magistrates' courts and the role of magistrates within minority ethnic communities, and increase the numbers of people seeking appointment from those groups. The feedback from the seven pilot shadowing schemes was positive and a second phase began on 4 July 2003.
11.7 Work continued on the revision of the Lord Chancellor's Directions for Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace, taking account of changes in policy and procedures, and of further developments since the last revision in 1998, for example, the replacement of police criminal record checks by the Criminal Records Bureau disclosure service. The revised directions, which provide the framework by which advisory committees operate their appointments process, will be issued this autumn and will be available on the departmental website (www.dca.gov.uk).
11.8 There has been an analysis of the results of a pilot exercise conducted to see whether a mixture of occupational, industrial and social groupings might provide a viable alternative to the use of political balance as a measure of social mix. At present, work continues on developing an acceptable scheme which will be submitted to the Lord Chancellor for his consideration.
General Commissioners of Income Tax
How the system works
11.9 General commissioners of income tax are unpaid volunteers from a range of backgrounds, and expertise in tax is not a requirement for appointment. They are appointed by the Lord Chancellor to hear appeals from individuals and companies against assessments made by the Inland Revenue on income tax, corporation tax and capital gains tax.
Appointments in 2002-2003
11.10 In June 2001 a moratorium was imposed on the appointment of new general commissioners of income tax, except in exceptional circumstances, because the national average sitting level for divisions has now fallen to two or three sittings a year compared to the Lord Chancellor's preferred level of at least six sittings a year and because of the ongoing work to consider reform of the Tax Appeals Tribunals. Therefore, during the year, only five people (four men and one woman) were appointed as general commissioners of income tax. As at 31 March 2003 there were 2,219 general commissioners (1,766 men and 453 women).
11.11 These figures are lower than those given in previous year's reports. Previous counts recorded numbers of posts rather than people and as commissioners may hold more than one post those figures included inadvertent double counting.
Developments in 2002-2003
11.12 The reform of the appointments system remains on hold since the Tax Appeal Reform Project (TARP) was established in 2000 to consider proposals for the modernisation of the tax appeal system and to develop detailed options for its reform. The areas in which TARP is concentrating are: