Lay Magistrates Notes

English Legal System: Lay Magistrates

Objectives

  • Explain who lay people are under the English Legal System (ELS). Emphasize their important role.
  • Discuss the role of lay magistrates.
  • Describe the duties and responsibilities of lay magistrates.
  • Evaluate the contribution of the magistrates to the justice system in England and Wales.

Who are Lay People?

  • Lay people have an important role in the English Legal System (ELS).

Lay Magistrates

  • Lay magistrates are volunteers who are not legally qualified.
  • They sit in benches of three in the Magistrates Court and make up 85% of the judicial community.
  • As of the first half of 2025, there are 14,576 lay magistrates in England and Wales.
  • They are sometimes referred to as Justices of the Peace.
  • They do not get a salary but will receive expenses, for example, travel and subsistence and a loss of earnings allowance.
  • They are required to do a minimum of 26 half-day sittings (13 days) per year.
  • Magistrates use Sentencing Guidelines and case law to assist them to reach decisions about sentencing.
  • Once appointed, a magistrate is assigned to a Local Justice Area, which is near their home or work, but they all have national jurisdiction under the Courts Act 2003.
  • There is approximately the same number of male and female magistrates.

Reasons for Having Lay People in the Legal System

  • Integration of lay people into the English legal system has been successful.
    • It involves people with local knowledge.
    • They come from a wide range of careers not just a legal background (i.e., clerks, bankers, teachers, etc.).
    • The cost of engaging lay people is less expensive.

Lay Magistrates: Criminal Jurisdiction

  • Magistrates hear 95% of all criminal cases.
  • They usually try summary offenses, such as lesser serious assault and criminal damage, drink driving, and football offenses.
  • They also deal with lots of traffic cases such as no insurance, failing to stop at an accident, defective tires, etc.
  • They also hear environmental cases such as pollution, health and safety cases, and cruelty to animals.
  • Magistrates have to decide if someone is guilty or innocent, whether a defendant should be allowed to have bail and the appropriate sentence when defendants either plead or are found guilty.
  • Magistrates have the power to impose a prison sentence of up to 6 months, and since s85 Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 can impose an unlimited fine in certain cases. They can refer the case to the Crown Court if a longer prison sentence is required.
  • All criminal cases start in the Magistrates’ Court, even if only for them to pass the case to the Crown Court.

Lay Magistrates: Civil Jurisdiction

  • Magistrates also hear some civil and family cases involving:
    • unpaid Council Tax
    • TV license evasion
    • child custody and adoption
    • care orders for children
  • Only experienced magistrates who have had special training can hear family cases and cases in the Youth Court.

Magistrates

  • There are around 30,000 lay magistrates or Justices of the Peace.
  • They are dealt with under the Justices of the Peace Act 1997 and Courts Act 2003.
  • They sit in 2's or 3's as part-time judges in the Magistrates' Court
  • Sitting alone, District Judges also hear cases in the Magistrates' Court

Key Qualities of a Magistrate

  • Good character: Assesses personal integrity, respect and trust of others, respect for confidences, and whether there is anything in their life which may bring the Magistracy into disrepute.
  • Understanding and communication: Ability to understand documents, identify and comprehend relevant facts, and follow evidence and arguments. An ability to concentrate and communicate effectively with the different people within the courtroom.
  • Social awareness: Appreciation and acceptance of the rule of law. Understanding of the community in which you are serving and have total respect for people from different backgrounds, religious beliefs, gender, etc.
  • Maturity and sound temperament: Ability to relate to and work with others and have respect/regard for their opinions and views.
  • Sound judgement: Common sense and the capability of being able to think logically. On a daily basis you must weigh up the different arguments and reach a balanced decision in association with the other two magistrates on the bench. Decisions must be without prejudice.
  • Commitment and reliability: Undertake at least 26 half-day sittings a year. In addition to this, you will have to have the time to attend your initial training and also continuation training.

Qualifications

  • In 1998, the Lord Chancellor set out six key qualities that a Magistrate should possess:
    • Good character
    • Understanding and communication
    • Social awareness
    • Maturity and sound temperament
    • Sound judgment
    • Commitment and reliability
  • Until 2013, the Lord Chancellor was responsible for appointing Magistrates, but they are now appointed by the Lord Chief Justice.
  • Applicants must:
    • be aged 18‒
    • retire at 75
    • not have any serious criminal convictions
    • not have been banned from driving in the past 5‒10 years
    • not been declared bankrupt
    • not work in a job where there may be a conflict of interest – e.g., police officer.
  • Candidates usually apply to become magistrates, either in response to advertisements or directly to the secretary of a local Advisory Committee or to the Department for Constitutional Affairs.
  • At least two interviews before the local Advisory Committee, who will be comprised of a maximum of 12 members and a mixture of current and retired magistrates as well as non-magistrates.
    • Interview 1: the panel will assess whether the candidate has the six key qualities and will assess their attitudes to various aspects of criminal justice, such as drink driving.
    • Interview 2: this will test a candidate’s judicial aptitude through the discussion of case studies which would be typical of those heard by Magistrates.
  • Advertisements may be placed in local papers, community noticeboards, on local radio, and in some counties on buses!
  • Recent recruitment initiatives have tried to attract potential magistrates in order to make them as representative of society as possible.
  • All magistrates sit in adult criminal courts as panels of three, mixed in gender, age, and ethnicity whenever possible to bring broad experience of life to the bench.
  • All three members of the panel have equal decision-making powers, but only one member, the chairman, speaks in court and presides over proceedings.
  • A qualified legal advisor is available to the panel at all times.
  • Magistrates do not require legal training.
  • However, all magistrates must undertake a compulsory program of practical training which prepares them to sit in court.

Persons Unqualified for Duty as Lay Magistrate

  1. Criminal Record:
    • Serious Criminal History: People with a history of serious crimes or a significant number of minor offenses are unlikely to be appointed.
    • Motoring Offences: Convictions for serious motoring offenses within the past five years can be grounds for ineligibility.
  2. Financial Issues:
    • Undischarged Bankrupts: Individuals who are undischarged bankrupts are not eligible.
    • Debt Relief Orders: Having a debt relief order against them is also a disqualifier.
    • Disqualified Directors: Those disqualified from acting as a director of a company in the past ten years are ineligible.
  3. Occupations:
    • Law Enforcement: Police officers and other individuals working in law enforcement or other justice-related roles may be ineligible due to potential conflicts of interest.
    • Other Conflicts of Interest: Any occupation that could create a conflict of interest or compromise judicial independence may be a bar to appointment.
  4. Health and Age:
    • Health: If a person's health prevents them from fully carrying out the duties of a magistrate, they may not be eligible.
    • Age: The Lord Chancellor generally does not appoint anyone over the age of 65.
  5. Other Factors:
    • Past Disqualifications: Individuals who have been disqualified from acting as a magistrate in the past may not be eligible for reappointment.

Types of Cases Magistrates Deal With

  • SUMMARY OFFENCES
  • TRIABLE EITHER-WAY OFFENCES
  • INDICTABLE OFFENCES

Types of Cases: Summary Offences

  • Minor offences
  • Minor traffic offences
  • Minor thefts
  • Assaults
  • Obstructing the police in their performance of duty
  • Other minor offences

Types of Cases: Indictable offences

  • Most serious offenses
  • Murder
  • Rape
  • Manslaughter
  • Kidnapping
  • Other very serious offenses

Types of Cases: Triable either way offences

  • Middle range offences
  • Robbery
  • Assault causing bodily harm
  • More serious thefts
  • Drug cases
  • Others case can be tried in Crown Court or magistrates' court

Sentencing Powers

  • In the latest update (October 2024), lay magistrates in the UK now have the power to impose custodial sentences of up to 12 months for a single offense.
  • This doubles their previous maximum sentencing power of 6 months.
  • This change, implemented in 2025, aims to ease the burden on the Crown Court and address the prison crisis, allowing it to focus on more serious and complex cases.

Sentencing Powers: Fines

  • Fines are the most common type of sentence given by the courts. It is given for lower-level crimes such as minor driving offenses or minor theft.
  • The court sets the amount of a fine after considering how serious the offense is and how much money the offender can pay based on their income.
  • Fines can be given to organizations or companies as well as people.
  • The maximum fine allowed in both magistrates’ courts, and the Crown Court is unlimited (the maximum in magistrates’ court for offenses committed before 12 March 2015 is £5,000).

Other sentencing powers

  • Community Orders: These orders can include things like unpaid work, curfews, or attendance at rehabilitation programs.
  • Bans: Magistrates can issue banning orders, such as driving bans or prohibitions from entering certain areas.
  • Rehabilitation Orders: These are designed to address underlying issues that may have contributed to the crime, such as drug or alcohol abuse.

Factors Considered in Sentencing

  • Severity of the Offense: The seriousness of the crime will be a major factor in determining the sentence.
  • Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances: Any factors that make the offense more serious (e.g., previous convictions, violence) or less serious (e.g., remorse, good character) will also be considered.
  • Defendant's Background: The offender's previous criminal history, age, and circumstances will be taken into account.
  • Impact on Victims: The impact of the crime on victims will also be considered.
  • Sentencing Guidelines: Magistrates are often guided by official sentencing guidelines, which provide a framework for determining appropriate sentences.

Magistrates: Role and Powers

  • Criminal Role
    • All criminal cases start in the Magistrates' Court. In such cases magistrates:
      • set the timetable for the case
      • decide bail
      • hear the evidence
      • retire to decide whether the accused is guilty or innocent and, if guilty, decide the most appropriate sentence
      • hear appeals in the crown court with a judge
      • deal with requests for warrants from the police.
    • For the most serious cases e.g. murder & rape, magistrates send these cases to the Crown Court and decide whether bail is granted and if so, on what conditions.
    • Sentences can include conditional & absolute discharges, community sentences, fines to a maximum of £5000 and up to 12 months imprisonment.
  • Civil role
    • Hear appeals against a Local Authority decision refusing or granting alcohol licenses
    • Magistrates also form Betting and Gaming Committees, which have the power to give licenses to run betting shops
    • Magistrates' courts deal with people who fail to pay fines and other financial penalties
    • Magistrates' courts deal with unpaid Council Tax.
  • Families and young people
    • Some magistrates are specially trained to deal with family cases. These cases may involve a young person who is at risk of serious harm, or, a family dispute concerning the breakdown of marriage and the care of children.

Training

  • Newly appointed magistrates have to achieve 3 basic competencies:
    1. Managing yourself – focusing on some of the basic aspects of self-mgt. in relation to preparing for court, conduct in court and ongoing learning
    2. Working as a member of a team – focusing on the team aspect of decision-making in the Magistrates’ Court
    3. Making judicial decisions –focusing on impartial and structured decision-making decision-making

Lay Magistrates’ Training

  1. Initial Training: This is where the magistrate will learn the basics of the role and will observe other magistrates.
  2. Mentoring: Each new magistrate will have a specially trained mentor allocated and they should have 6 formal mentored settings within the first 18 months and also keep a Personal Development Log.
  3. Core Training: This involves visits to penal institutions and working through a Core Workbook for self-study to equip them with key knowledge.
  4. Consolidation Training: This happens at the end of the first year and builds on sittings to prepare magistrates for their first appraisal.
  5. First appraisal: The mentor and magistrate will agree after 12-18 months that the new magistrate now demonstrates competence in the role.
  • Delivered by the justices’ clerk who is guided by a national syllabus produced by the Judicial College
  • Training is based on competences and is usually assessed through observations.

Lay Magistrates’ Training (Continuation)

  • Magistrates continue training throughout their magisterial career:
    • Appraisals take place every three years to ensure the magistrate maintains his/her competency in whichever court they sit
    • Continuation training takes place once every three years, usually before appraisals
    • Update training on new legislation and procedures is delivered to magistrates as required
    • Threshold training accompanies each development in a magistrates’ role, there is a matching training process. For instance magistrates may go through comprehensive training to become a chairman or presiding justice. Alternatively, they may choose to undergo training in the specialist skills needed for family or youth courts

Retirement and Dismissal

  • The mandatory retirement age for magistrates in the UK is 75. This was previously 70, but the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Act 2022 increased it to 75. Magistrates are expected to sit for at least five years before their mandatory retirement age.
  • s11 of the Courts Act 2003 provides that the Lord Chief Justice can remove a lay magistrate from office:
    • on the ground of incapacity or misbehavior,
    • on the ground of a persistent failure to meet such standards of competence as are prescribed by a direction given by the Lord Chief Justice, or
    • if he is satisfied that the lay justice is declining or neglecting to take a proper part in the exercise of his functions as a justice of the peace.
  • Case Study: “Magistrate removed from office after falling asleep at trial”, The Guardian, 27th September 2010.
  • Complaints about magistrates are made to the same body as the judiciary, that is, the Judicial Conduct Investigation Office.

Social Composition of Lay Magistrates

  • In 2024, UK lay magistrates are 57% female, with ethnic minorities making up 13% of the total. This composition reflects the proportion of women and ethnic minorities in recent appointments.
  • Over 2,000 new magistrates were appointed in 2023-2024.
  • Key Social Composition Statistics:
    • Gender: Over half (57%) of all magistrates are female.
    • Ethnicity: Ethnic minorities constitute 13% of the magistracy.
    • Age: While the exact age distribution isn't detailed in the search results, it's mentioned that a significant portion (82%) of magistrates in 2021 were over 50.
  • Recruitment and Diversity: While the proportions of women and ethnic minorities in new appointments are comparable to those already in post, the overall ethnic diversity of the magistracy lags behind the general population.

Justices’ Clerk

  • Every Bench of magistrates is assisted by a clerk, or a legal adviser.
  • Every justices’ clerk has to be qualified as a solicitor or barrister for at least five years.
  • Their role is to advise the magistrates on issues of law and procedure in the Magistrates’ Courts; this is set out in s28 Courts Act 2003
  • The clerk is not permitted to assist the magistrates in their decision making. Case Study: R v Eccles Justices ex parte Farrelly (1992), convictions were quashed on appeal because the clerk had helped in the decision-making process.
  • s29 Courts Act 2003 guarantees the independence of the justices’ clerk and confirms that they cannot be subject to the direction of the Lord Chancellor or any other person.

Evaluation of Lay Magistrates: Advantages

  • Magistrates provide a better representation of society than professional judges – 53% of lay magistrates are women.
  • Magistrates will normally live or work within the area in which they sit, although this is no longer a formal requirement.
  • The use of lay magistrates is cheap as they only have to be reimbursed for their expenses and subsistence. The trial itself in a Magistrates’ Court is also cheaper than in a Crown Court.
  • The availability of a justices’ clerk is also seen as an advantage as there is constant access to advice on points of law and procedure.
  • There are very few appeals from the Magistrates’ Court suggesting that they are doing a good job.

Evaluation of Lay Magistrates: Disadvantages

  • There are areas of society which are very under-represented – for example, lots of magistrates are from the middle classes or hold managerial occupations. This therefore offers the question of whether they do really have a good local knowledge of the poorer areas in their locality.
  • Over the last few years, Magistrates’ Courts have been closing which can cause problems of access for some people and we are therefore increasingly losing the ‘local knowledge’ aspect.
  • Although lay magistrates are more representative than professional judges, the magistracy is often criticised for being “middle aged, middle class and middle minded”. There are measures being put in places to combat this and make the magistracy more representative.
  • There is a low acquittal rate in the Magistrates Court which does suggest that there may be some prosecution bias. This may also be due to the fact that they will see the same representatives from the police and Crown Prosecution Service time and again.
  • Although training is undertaken from a national perspective, there is often seen to be inconsistency in sentencing across different areas.
  • Magistrates are often criticised for relying too heavily on the justices’ clerk.

Retirement & Removal

  1. Lay magistrates cannot hear cases after the age of 70
  2. Lord Chancellor can remove a lay justice:
    • Incapacity or misbehavior
    • A persistent failure to meet such standards of competence as are prescribed by a direction given by the Lord Chancellor or
    • Where the LC is satisfied that the lay justice is declining or neglecting to take a proper part in the exercise of his functions

Advantages of Lay Magistrates

  • Cost-Effective: Magistrates are unpaid volunteers, saving the government significant public funds.
  • Local Knowledge: Magistrates, often residing in or close to the area they serve, possess valuable local knowledge, which can enhance their understanding of the community and specific cases.
  • Broader Representation: Magistrates offer a more diverse representation of the community than judges, with a higher proportion of women and individuals from various backgrounds.
  • Public Confidence: The involvement of lay people in the justice system can foster public confidence and a sense that the law is accessible and fair.
  • Accessibility and Speed: Magistrates' courts tend to be more accessible and handle cases more quickly than higher courts.
  • Training and Legal Advice: Magistrates receive training and have access to legal advice from a legally qualified clerk, ensuring they are equipped to make informed decisions.

Disadvantage of Lay Magistrates

  • Inconsistency in Sentencing: Sentencing decisions can vary across different benches, leading to concerns about fairness and uniformity.
  • Potential Bias: Magistrates, like any individuals, can be susceptible to biases, potentially influenced by their personal experiences or preconceived notions.
  • Perceived Lack of Trial by Peers: Critics argue that the system is not a true "trial by peers" as magistrates are not always representative of the defendant's background.
  • Reliance on Legal Advisers: Some argue that magistrates may rely too heavily on legal advisors, potentially diminishing their role in decision-making.
  • Out of Touch with Society: Some argue that magistrates may be out of touch with the realities of life in poorer communities, leading to misunderstandings or insensitive sentencing decisions.
  • Case-Hardened: Some concerns exist that magistrates may become too reliant on the evidence of police and prosecution, potentially leading to a less objective assessment of cases.