Let me welcome you to the Cholmondeley Room to mark the conclusion of the first phase of the Magistrates' Shadowing Scheme.
At the national launch on 23 July 2001 I said that the pilot scheme sent out a clear statement that the magistracy must be a body in which all parts of our communities are engaged. That statement, and my Department's commitment to encouraging applications to become magistrates from as wide a section of the public as possible, remains true today.
Unfortunately, certain sections of our society hold entrenched views about the criminal justice system and the magistracy in particular. If you were to ask a random selection of people to describe a magistrate they would probably say "white", "middle-class", "professional" and "middle-aged".
It is these stereotypes that we must challenge. With the valuable contribution of those who have taken part in this scheme, and with the help of our partners from Operation Black Vote, we can succeed in doing this.
The Magistrates Shadowing Scheme has given people from minority ethnic communities the opportunity to experience life as a magistrate. The scheme operated in seven areas. Birmingham and Bristol were the first, and they were followed by Middlesex, Inner London, Cardiff, Bradford and Oldham.
Forty-seven people, many of whom are here today, shadowed 94 magistrates. The shadowers kept journals which have been published on the website of Operation Black Vote. They also agreed to become ambassadors within their communities so that they could pass on what they had learnt and challenge some of the commonly held misconceptions about magistrates.
I have read a number of your journal entries with great interest. One participant wrote:
"This will have a major influence for those people who are involved in the process, a lot of knowledge and experience can be shared and a positive picture portrayed within the Black and Asian community"
Another said:
"The shadowing scheme has forced me to confront my ethnicity and my Britishness and the part that I play in [that] society…we have so much to offer our communities and I hope the next generation will benefit from the in-roads we make"
And finally:
"So far my journey has been full of new experiences and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. I gained good insight into some of the interpersonal skills required and I am hoping to become a magistrate and to continue acting as an ambassador for the shadowing scheme"
A consistent theme throughout the journals is that the magistrates who agreed to take part have been described as friendly, helpful, professional, encouraging and committed. I am heartened by these comments and glad to learn that your shared experiences of working in the Magistrates' Courts have been so positive.
To become a magistrate all you need is to demonstrate a few key qualities. You must be of good character, sound judgement, mature temperament and have the commitment to be able to attend for a minimum of 26 half days in a year and, if possible for something approaching the average number of sittings, which is 35 half days a year.
These qualities are not the preserve of any one group or class in society. They are found in people who come from all walks of life. In recent years my Department has undertaken a considerable amount of work to ensure that the magistracy is a microcosm of the community it serves. We continue to look for ways of broadening the makeup of magistrates' benches
The Magistrates' Shadowing Scheme will help us to achieve this aim by giving us the opportunity to encourage more people from minority ethnic communities to examine the way magistrates work. Hopefully they will then apply to become magistrates, thus enabling the magistracy to benefit from the wide variety of skills, cultures, life experience and backgrounds that can be found in every community throughout our country.
In recent years encouraging recruitment trends have emerged. For example, in 2000-2001 the proportion of new appointments from minority ethnic communities rose to 9.3% - up from 8.6% the year before, 6.5% in 1997 and only 5% in 1994.
The pilot exercise has ended and the second phase is now being planned.
I have asked my Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace to examine the makeup of their benches and to consider whether they should bid to be included in the second part of the Scheme. There has already been a great deal of interest expressed from a number of benches who would like to take part.
I anticipate being able to make an announcement by the end of March on those areas that will take the Scheme forward. In the meantime I am happy to endorse the evaluation report of the pilot project, copies of which are available today, and we will be examining the suggestions made in that report to see whether improvements can be made to the Scheme.
In closing let me thank all of the participants who helped to make the pilot of the Magistrates' Shadowing Scheme such a success; the shadowers for taking up the challenge of entering a world you knew little about and for your ongoing commitment to the project; the magistrates, who already play such a large part in making our communities better and safer places. Your participation in helping to make these communities more inclusive is much appreciated.
Let me also thank the Justices' Clerks and court staff for helping to make the system more accessible to under-represented groups and, of course, very special thanks to Simon Woolley and Winsome Cornish from Operation Black Vote, whose help in running the scheme and keeping the disparate elements working together has been invaluable.
Thank you very much.