Could I begin with an apology? You very kindly asked me to come to your conference last year, and I couldn't in the end make it. So I do apologise for not being in Swansea last October. And that means I'm even more pleased to be here today.
In one sense, I'm not sorry for not coming last year. Because there is something I want to talk about today which I would not have been able to do with any degree of authority 12 months ago.
I want to announce today a new programme of work aimed at making sure that you as magistrates are able to do what you do as well as you want to do it.
So I want to talk to you today primarily about what you do. About how important I believe what you do is. And about how we together make sure that what you do is done as well as you know and believe it can be done.
The problems you deal with every day in the magistrates' courts are at the very top of the public agenda. Crime and anti-social behaviour are key issues for many people in this country. - so are childcare issues, so are youth justice issues. We have a responsibility to tackle to these issues, and we are doing so. Your role in that is crucial. I am here today to make my commitment to your work absolutely clear.
You may well have questions in your mind about this. The old saying: “I'm from the government and I'm here to help you” resonates all too much with people who all too often have seen government help turn into government hindrance.
Together already we have I believe achieved a lot:
Important reforms I believe- helping us do more, helping us to respond better.
But I think in the past that as far as magistrates and the magistracy are concerned, we in government - governments of all political stripes - haven't got things right.
We've relied on you as magistrates to deal with the vast majority of criminal work which comes before the courts. But we haven't always given you the support you rightly think you need and should have.
We've relied on you to be the frontline in terms of the courts dealing with crime, youth justice, and many child care issues. But we need to do more in helping you do what you do.
We've been at risk - maybe even more than that - of taking magistrates for granted.
I'm here today to say to you : those days are over.
If government wasn't giving you the support you need, then this government now will.
If government wasn't providing you with the right sort of help, this government now will.
If you did feel you were being taken for granted, then under this government that stops right now.
Because we do know how valuable you are to the justice system.
Can I personally pay tribute to the thousands of magistrates who carry out their duties with care, with consideration and with a remarkable commitment to their communities.
Our justice system simply could not function properly without the work that you do.
You know better than I that magistrates' courts deal with 95 per cent of all criminal business and make a significant contribution to family justice.
Your importance to local justice cannot be over-estimated.
We value the commitment you make. And so should the wider law-abiding public. People need to know about what you do, and how well you do it. You have been the unsung heroes of the justice system for too long.
So let me set out for you here and now an unequivocal statement of my intentions.
The key principle guiding my vision is this: magistrates are at the very heart of creating safe, prosperous communities. The role of magistrates is absolutely critical, and will remain so.
So my vision is of a magistracy appointed on merit, representative of the public, connected to the needs of our communities and administering justice that is respected and effective.
That is the vision. That is what we have been achieving, what we have to go on achieving together.
I believe we have a unique opportunity to do that. An opportunity we must now take.
In less than six months' time, Her Majesty's Courts Service will be launched. The unified court administration will be a new beginning. And, in time, new appointments to the magistracy will be made by the Judicial Appointments Commission.
Magistrates are a key and fundamental part of the judicial family. They represent a different aspect from the professional judiciary. But in terms of their independence, their importance and their merit they are on equal terms with the professional judiciary. And the establishment of Judicial Issues Groups and Area Judicial Forums, chaired by a Circuit Judge, will give you a real voice.
These changes presents us with real challenges. But with real opportunities too. We want to get it right.
We have taken huge strides so far in the enormous amount of work that has already been done to prepare for bringing all the courts together under one administrative roof. It is a big undertaking. A big step. But it is a step I'm confident is a step in the right direction.
The magistracy is an essential and an integral part of the change. So in line with the administrative change which the creation of the unified court administration will bring about, we want to make sure that you as magistrates are fully able to do the work about which I know you are so passionate and to which I know you are so committed.
So we've begun a new strand of work in my department. Work aimed entirely at giving you all the support we can in government to enable you to do the job. To make sure that you are having the effect and the impact for communities and against crime which I know you want to have.
Can I say at the outset what this programme of work is not. It is not a Whitehall 'review' of any sort. It is not an attempt by the government to tell you what to do, and how to do it. It is not ministers or officials telling you that we know best.
Working closely with the Magistrates Association, we are starting a programme of work called 'Supporting Magistrates To Provide Justice'. The key areas are:
Connected. Respected. Effective.
These issues are not simple. To address them we will need considerable input from you and your colleagues across the country.
That process is already under way. Magistrates, whether the leadership of this association or magistrates themselves working in their courts, on the crime frontline, are telling me what they need and what they want.
I know the relationship between magistrates and district judges is important. There are over 28,000 lay magistrates and just over 100 district judges. Neither is inferior to the other. They need to be complementary. There will be particular cases where district judges do have a role to play.
But let me be absolutely clear that we are committed in the short and the long-term to the role of lay magistrates - and to helping you to do your jobs better.
The magistracy should be seen for what it is - the cornerstone of effective local justice. Your role should be valued and respected - by the Government, by employers, by the wider judicial family and by the public.
And we need to do more to work with you to bring this about.
That's why over the past few months I've been visiting magistrates courts across the country - in Coventry, Bradford, Ipswich, Greenwich and many more. I've met staff, judges and magistrates. And I've spoken to members of the public - victims and witness, often families with children - who come to court to give evidence or to seek orders from the court.
And I have heard so much that would make us proud of the service we provide. Cases discharged promptly. Witnesses given proper support. Facilities which make the experience of going to court as tolerable as possible for children and their families. And all over the country, magistrates that understand the concerns of their communities.
But of course I've also heard concerns: the things we need to address if we are going to deliver the system we all want to see.
Could I touch on the main issues which we need to look at:
Firstly - we need to do more to ensure that magistrates are respected.
We need to be more open so that people understand the processes and procedures that can, to the uninitiated, seem distant or confusing. We need to make connections with people - the more people see and understand the work you do, the more they will respect it. Local people will be more confident that their concerns are being addressed. It will have a deterrent effect on the minority of people who think that community justice is soft justice.
Already, you contribute to and engage with your communities in many ways, over and above your important work in the court-room. The 'Magistrates in the Community' Programme has been a great success.
We need to build on this - it is important that the community understands how you come to your decisions. It is vital that magistrates are seen to understand the concerns of the community in relation to crime and anti-social behaviour. We have established Anti-social Behaviour Response Courts in many areas, and we will be setting up more. The Prolific and Priority Offender strategy, introduced in September also shows how we can respond to and react to new issues. It is vital people see and understand the positive impact of the decisions you make in court.
In many areas magistrates and probation officers are working together to increase public awareness of the impact of community sentences. Open days and User Groups can help bridge the gap between court and community.
What else can we do? How else can we build greater confidence in magistrates courts and the decisions they make? How can we demonstrate the positive impact you have on your communities?
The second question is how we can together ensure you are as effective as you want to be.
Ineffective trials, unnecessary delay, absent witnesses. Too many cases are brought before you and are not able to proceed. All too often, these delays are avoidable by the agencies involved in preparing these cases. It's frustrating for you, for court staff and for witnesses.
We should keep a sense of perspective - the great majority of cases progress well. But, equally, one loudly-publicised ineffective trial can undermine the quiet success of a hundred well-managed cases. It's important we get this right.
The Effective Trial Management Programme has had a real impact. In Essex, for example, the number of ineffective trials is down by 75 per cent.
Much has been done already to improve the way members of the public are treated when they come to court - the experience of being a witness can shape a persons view of our criminal justice system for years to come.
We need to ensure that the service we provide to court users - especially vulnerable court users, victims and witnesses, is of a high quality. This might mean more dedicated facilities for victims and witnesses or better information for court users.
The more we do to improve our processes within court and the service we provide to witnesses, the better our courts will be.
What else can we do to ensure cases are ready to be heard? How can we help you to improve the way cases are managed and cut down delays? Is there more we can do for witnesses?
I also want to hear your views on how it is we can ensure the orders you give are respected and enforced.
Court attendance as you all know is compulsory, not optional. Court sentences are compulsory. When a court decides, it decides. It must be clear that what the court orders, happens.
So where the court grants bail, if the defendant does not surrender to bail on the day set, they should expect to be picked up by the authorities and punished as soon as possible for their failure to appear.
If conditions are set for bail, defendants must expect that those conditions will be enforced. If defendants are fined, that fine must be paid. Fines are not optional. If a community penalty is given, the conditions of that penalty must be enforced.
This, I believe is vital for building confidence in magistrates courts - making sure that when people come before you they treat the court with respect, and in reassuring the public that what the courts says actually happens.
In Cambridge and in Staffordshire, for instance, they are piloting fast-track procedures for community penalty breach warrants. A new enforcement regime for fines is being developed - payment rates have increased to 78 per cent and we are doing more to deal with hard to trace offenders. People now, I think, understand that fines are not optional.
We are looking at Failure to Attend warrants. Do we need to do more ? We are taking through an amendment to the to extend the powers of entry to Civilian Enforcement Officers. But do the courts need a bigger role in enforcing their orders?
Thirdly, we need to make sure that magistrates are fully connected into the communities they serve.
In recent years, for instance, the magistracy has made huge strides in becoming more representative of the wider community. The number of magistrates from black and minority ethnic groups is on the way up - over 8 per cent of new applicants are drawn from ethnic minority communities. We need to do more.
Diversity is an end in itself - it is undoubtedly a good thing to have a bench that has a healthy mix of different people. And the more magistrates mirror the communities they serve, the more they will be respected and valued.
I know in many courts, recruitment is a particularly sore issue. Courts where, despite the enthusiasm, dedication, and commitment of the magistrates' bench, they are struggling because there simply aren't enough magistrates.
Last year we launched the National Strategy for the Recruitment of Lay Magistrates. The Magistrates Association has been closely involved in this work, and I am grateful for the enthusiasm and expertise that they continue to provide.
It has had some impact, but not enough. A single national call centre for applicants has been established and there has been an increase in applicants. A mentoring scheme has been established in partnership with operation black vote.
But it has not, I'm afraid, achieved what we wanted it to achieve. I'm sorry about that. We need to do more. If we want a proper national strategy for recruitment, it needs to have more drive behind it and a higher national priority.
I know that we also need to do more to retain magistrates - not just by providing the training and support you need, but by recognising the value of your work and making being a magistrate something that is convenient to the rest of your life.
And we need to do more, much more, on development: on making sure that magistrates have the skills and techniques they need to do the job they are there to do and want to do well.
So the questions are: how can we widen the pool of applicants?
And what more do we need to do to retain and develop magistrates?
I know for many of you it is difficult to find time to carry out your duties. How can we help you in that respect?
These are all very important questions. The answers will shape our court service for years to come.
That is why I am here today. That is why I desperately want your views. Any magistrate who wishes to put forward their ideas will be able to do so.
For my part, here's an initial programme of what we in government will be doing:
Nothing I do however will dilute the merit of the magistracy. It is difficult to become a magistrate and will remain so.
I know that these and others are good measures. But I know too that what counts is delivery. That is what will count with you as an Association. And that is what will count with magistrates up and down the country.
So working with this Association, we are determined to deliver.
We will take up what we hear from you to draw up specific ideas and specific proposals. Your ideas. Your proposals. Specific suggestions from magistrates themselves, as well as from your Association and others, and also from government. That is what will form this new programme of support and improvement.
It is an important new programme. Important for me, as Lord Chancellor. Important for the Government. Important for communities who want to see their neighbourhoods safe and secure. And I hope important for you as magistrates, dedicated to serving the communities in which you work.
If we as a government are serious about tackling crime - and we are - that means tackling crime at the local level. That means as well tackling the causes of crime.
And it means too supporting the means by which we tackle crime and the consequences of crime.
That means supporting the courts - and especially for the volume crime and anti-social behaviour which so concerns many communities, that means supporting you and supporting the magistrates courts.
It is now time that your role was properly recognised, properly supported and properly respected by everybody who has an interest in our justice system.
It's a big agenda. It's an important agenda.
But I believe it is a common agenda between us. Our job as government is to make sure that communities are safe and secure. Your work as magistrates is to make sure that communities are safe and secure, and that cases are dealt with fairly.
Our task together is to reach for that goal. We want to give you all the help and support we can to achieve that. Together, I am completely confident we can.