The Lay Magistracy

How the System works

5.1

Magistrates are volunteers drawn from all walks of life. The Government recognises the importance of volunteers in the community and the lay magistracy has demonstrated considerable commitment over many years to voluntary service and the concept of citizenship in the local community.

5.2

Magistrates are not legally qualified but are given appropriate training to undertake their duties. They usually sit in threes 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.

5.3

Lay magistrates in England and Wales (except in the Duchy of Lancaster - that is Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside - where, for historical reasons, magistrates are appointed by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster) are appointed by the Lord Chancellor on behalf, and in the name, of the Sovereign.

5.4

Candidates are recommended for appointment by local Advisory Committees. In many areas, these Committees are supported by Sub-Committees. The Committees are made up, for the most part, of magistrates but the Lord Chancellor requires at least a third of the membership to consist of other local people who are not magistrates.

5.5

Those who express an interest in becoming a magistrate are supplied with an application form and Notes for Guidance. The Notes provide information about the duties of a magistrate and the eligibility requirements. They also list the six key qualities sought in magistrates, namely, good character, understanding and communication, social awareness, maturity and sound temperament, sound judgment and commitment and reliability.

5.6

All candidates recommended to the Lord Chancellor for appointment will have undergone a two-stage interview process. These interviews will determine whether a candidate is personally suitable for appointment i.e. whether he or she possesses the six key qualities. The first interview is used to discover more about a candidate's personal attributes and to explore their attitudes on a number of criminal justice issues. The primary purpose of the second interview is to test judicial aptitude by discussion of at least two case studies, typical of those heard daily in a magistrates' court.

5.7

Once those candidates who are personally suitable have been identified, the Advisory Committee is then required to have regard to the number of vacancies and the need to ensure that the composition of the bench broadly reflects the community which it serves in terms of gender, ethnicity, geographical spread, occupation and political affiliation (currently used as a proxy for social balance).

5.8

Each Advisory Committee will generally make its recommendations to the Lord Chancellor once a year during a given month.

5.9

The Lord Chancellor will consider a candidate's suitability for appointment regardless of ethnic origin, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, political affiliation, religion or disability, except where the disability prevents the fulfilment of the physical requirements of the office.

Applications and Appointments in 2000/2001

5.10

Last year's Annual Report mentioned that following the computerisation of the records of lay magistrates it was hoped that it would be possible this year to provide a breakdown of serving lay magistrates by the balancing criteria (i.e. gender, ethnic origin, political affiliation, geographical spread and occupation). Following validation of the information held on each magistrate the computerisation of the over 26,000 records is now complete. This proved to be a mammoth task and it is now possible to provide a better range of statistical information about the make up of the magistracy. Annex G has the breakdown for the main criteria (gender, ethnic origin and political affiliation). It does not include geographical spread as such information would be far too detailed, nor occupation as the occupational groupings currently used are to be aligned with those used by National Statistics. The figures in Annex G include the appointments made in the Duchy of Lancaster.

5.11

Detailed statistics on the number of applications and appointments during 2000/2001 are in Annex H. In summary, 1,366 people (703 men and 663 women) were appointed as magistrates (excluding appointments in the Duchy of Lancaster). Of these 127 (68 men and 59 women) came from an ethnic minority community. That is 9.3% of the total number of appointments, thus improving upon the steady improvement since 1994. The figures are for calendar years until 1998 and for financial years from 1998/99. Figures are also available in Annex H for appointments in the Duchy of Lancaster.

Developments in 2000/2001

5.12

The standard induction course for newly appointed members of Advisory Committees mentioned in last year's Report continues. During the year 15 courses were delivered throughout England and Wales. The course is designed to give newly appointed members a basic introduction to the work of the Advisory Committees and allows them to practise interviewing techniques. The content of the course is continually being evaluated and in the next year additional material on diversity and equality of opportunity will be introduced.

5.13

A final assessment of the pilot study to test the practicalities and the public perception of appointment of visually impaired people as magistrates took place, as mentioned in last year's Report, during the summer of 2000. The Lord Chancellor has considered that assessment and has decided to remove the current presumption against appointing visually impaired magistrates. He announced his decision on 25 June 2001.

5.14

The delay in completing the validation of the computerised records (paragraph 5.10) has meant that work to develop an alternative to the political balance criterion has been delayed. A pilot exercise is to be conducted in a limited number of areas to see whether a mixture of occupational and social groupings would be a practical alternative to political balance and a report is expected to go to the Lord Chancellor at the end of 2001.

5.15

In June 2000 the Report of the Equality Working Group on the procedures and practices surrounding the appointment of lay magistrates, General Commissioners of Income Tax, and members of Advisory Committees was submitted to the Lord Chancellor. He accepted the recommendations made in the report and an action plan has been created to implement them. Some of the recommendations may take some time to implement but it is hoped that most will be completed before the end of 2001. There is a progress chart on the Lord Chancellor's Department's website for those who are interested in following the progress of the implementation progress chart.

5.16

Last year's Report stated that the Lord Chancellor was considering what action he might take to ease the difficulties that magistrates are increasingly finding in securing time-off to sit on the bench. This initiative will be subsumed within the National Recruitment Strategy, details of which will appear in next year's Report.

5.17

As part of its desire to do all it can to increase the proportion of lay magistrates from an ethnic minority background the Government has enlisted the help of Operation Black Vote - a non-party political campaign which is supported by a broad coalition of mainly Black organisations to encourage Black people to vote and be involved in the British democratic system. A small working party was established to develop a programme encompassing the three strands of the work Operation Black Vote do: encouraging participation; job shadowing; and education and training. The working party is made up of representatives of the Justices' Clerks Society, the Association of Justices' Chief Executives, the Magistrates' Association and a member of the Inner London Advisory Committee. In addition several Advisory Committees are assisting by running pilots to encourage applications to become Magistrates.

5.18

In March 2000 the Lord Chancellor announced that all lay magistrates would be required to undertake training on the Human Rights Act by 2 October 2000 or refrain from sitting thereafter until they had done so. He took this step because the Government was concerned that points arising under the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights should be able to be taken in all the courts. The vast majority of magistrates attended the training. Only a handful failed to do so without good reason and a small number of others resigned in protest either at the burden of training or, more rarely, as a principled objection to the Human Rights Act. Those who refused to undertake the training were transferred to the Supplemental List(1) for England and Wales.

Developments Planned for 2001/2002

5.19

Last year's Report mentioned that a mixture of occupational and social groupings might be a practical alternative to the political balance criterion and prove a better measure of the social make-up of benches and areas. A pilot exercise is being conducted in a limited number of areas. It is hoped that questionnaires will be issued and that the responses will be collated and analysed so that a report on the viability of this approach can be presented to the Lord Chancellor by the end of 2001.

5.20

Work will also continue to implement the recommendations of the Equality Working Group on the lay magistracy and General Commissioners of Income Tax (paragraph 5.15).

5.21

A shadowing scheme in co-operation with the Magistrates Court Service and Operation Black Vote (paragraph 5.17) was formally launched in June 2001. The aim is to improve awareness of the magistrates' courts and the role of magistrates; and to increase the numbers of people from ethnic minority communities seeking appointment. This is achieved by giving young people of African, Asian and Caribbean origin and those from other ethnic minorities first hand experience of what a magistrate does and how the appointment system works. It is hoped that those who undertake the shadowing will act as ambassadors within their communities so that the general level of awareness and understanding of the magistrates' courts and their work is raised. The pilots in 7 areas will be evaluated in April 2002 and a decision will be taken about the possibility of expanding the shadowing scheme nationally.

5.22

A revision of the Lord Chancellor's Directions for Advisory Committees of Justices of the Peace is to be carried out to take account of any developments since the last revision in 1998, and to clarify some of the directions contained within it. Once the Directions have been revised it is intended to place them on the Internet. The Handbook for Newly Appointed Justices of the Peace will also be revised in 2001/2002 to bring it up to date and to make the format more convenient for readers.

5.23

Work will also be necessary to consider the recommendations of Lord Justice Auld's report on the Criminal Courts Review (paragraph 2.31). These will form part of the Government's response to his report due to be produced later in the year.

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General Commissioners of Income Tax

How the System works

5.24

Taxpayers who are in dispute with the Inland Revenue can appeal in the first instance to General Commissioners of Income Tax who are completely independent of the Inland Revenue and have wide discretion on the procedure to follow when hearing appeals. The appeals are heard in private and the decisions are not publicised. The General Commissioners are appointed by the Lord Chancellor to a Division of Commissioners, on the recommendation of local Advisory Committees. There are 74 such Committees throughout England and Wales.

5.25

Most of the members of the Advisory Committees are General Commissioners themselves, although the Lord Chancellor wishes each Committee to include at least one lay member. In undertaking their duties, Advisory Committees follow the guidance contained within the Lord Chancellor's Directions to Advisory Committees on General Commissioners of Income Tax, which were issued in 1994.

5.26

Before recommending any new appointment, an Advisory Committee must be satisfied that it is required in the light of current and future workload. Where a need has been identified, candidates are asked to complete an application form. The Lord Chancellor requires that every candidate recommended to him for appointment should have been interviewed by the Advisory Committee. The interview should establish personal suitability and also test judicial capacity.

5.27

Committees must bear in mind that once suitable candidates have been identified, they must try to ensure that each Division broadly reflects the community that it serves, particularly in terms of gender and ethnicity.

5.28

The Lord Chancellor will consider a candidate's suitability for appointment regardless of ethnic origin, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, political affiliation, religion or disability, except where the disability prevents the fulfilment of the physical requirements of the office.

Appointments in 2000/2001

5.29

During the year, 36 people (21 men and 15 women) were appointed as General Commissioners of Income Tax. This continues a steady decline in the number of Commissioners needing to be appointed because of the decline in the work of the Tribunals. As at 31 March 2001, there were 2,887 General Commissioners of Income Tax (2,319 men and 568 women).

Developments in 2000/2001

5.30

The reform of the appointment system mentioned in last year's Report was largely overtaken by consideration of wider reform of tax tribunals generally and the work of Sir Andrew Leggatt in his wide ranging review of the Tribunal system (see paragraph 2.28). As part of developing and implementing these reforms, changes are likely to the appointment procedures. No changes were undertaken during the period of this Report. More information will be provided next year on the plans for change and the likely timescale for implementing those changes.