Ministers want youngsters and working people to become magistrates

by · Mail Online

Ministers have announced plans to make 18-year-old bricklayers magistrates in a scheme to boost diversity and cut justice backlogs.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) on Thursday launched a campaign to recruit up to 2,500 new magistrates and is prioritising 'younger and working-age people' to boost diversity and under-represented groups. 

Advertisements for the role state 'whatever your level of education' if you are aged between 18 and 74 and want to 'challenge yourself, develop new skills and create positive change', you can be a magistrate.

The Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood's plans would take the number of magistrates to 17,000 as Labour looks to increase their powers to sentence offenders from six months to one year.

It is thought the plan will help reduce the number of prisoners languishing in cells waiting to come to court by allowing them to handle more serious cases - easing the prison overcrowding crisis.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) on Thursday launched a campaign to recruit up to 2,500 new magistrates and is prioritising 'younger and working-age people' to boost diversity and under-represented groups
Advertisements for the role state 'whatever your level of education' if you are aged between 18 and 74 and want to 'challenge yourself, develop new skills and create positive change', you can be a magistrate 
Being a magistrate is a flexible part-time voluntary role that can fit around other commitments, including full-time employment 

There were a record 17,070 prisoners on remand at the end of June, representing a fifth of the entire prison population, up from just 6,000 five years ago.

What is the difference between a magistrate and a judge?

Magistrates, also known as Justices of the Peace, usually handle less serious criminal cases, while judges hear evidence in both criminal and civil courts.

Magistrates don't need any legal knowledge or experience, but they should be open-minded, rational, and willing to work in a team. Judges need an extensive legal background and training.

Magistrates' sentencing powers depend on the type and seriousness of the offense but they are not as powerful as judges. Judges in the higher courts can issue long prison sentences.

Magistrates are voluntary and judges are paid.

Nearly a third of those on remand would normally be found not guilty when they go to trial, or not jailed if convicted, creating spaces in prisons. 

Only five per cent of magistrates are estimated to be under 40, which has led to criticisms that they are not representative of wider society. 

A spokesman for the campaign said: 'The role doesn't require any qualifications, legal knowledge or experience. Qualities valued in a magistrate are an open mind, rational thinking and a willingness to work in a team.'

Being a magistrate is a flexible part-time voluntary role that can fit around other commitments, including full-time employment. 

Although they will need training and are assigned a mentor and supported by a legal adviser, who works with them in court to help follow the correct procedures.

In 2022 a similar MoJ recruitment drive for magistrates specifically mentioned its aim to attract people of all backgrounds 'from teachers to bricklayers, to stay-at-home mums'.

Tom Franklin, chief executive of the Magistrates' Association, told The Telegraph: 'The focus on recruiting individuals from currently underrepresented groups must be maintained – including from younger and working-age people – to better reflect the communities that magistrates serve.

The Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood's (pictured at conference) plans would take the number of magistrates to 17,000 as Labour looks to increase their powers to sentence offenders from six months to one year

'Retention of existing magistrates is also important so that the numbers leaving the magistracy do not exceed those who join it.

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Bricklayers, teachers and stay-at-home mums wanted to become lay judges: Hunt for 4,000 magistrates 'from every part of society' in huge recruitment drive to beat case backlog in courts 

'There should be a fundamental overhaul of the magistrates' expenses system, so that magistrates are not left out of pocket, as is the case currently.'

Anyone over the age of 18 who is able to dedicate a minimum of 13 days service a year and 'can display reason and sound judgment' has been urged to apply. 

The Ministry of Justice said it will be looking for good communication skills, a sense of fairness and the ability to see an argument from different sides.

Candidates will be sought to fill positions across criminal work, youth cases and certain civil and family proceedings.

Adam Rathbone, a lecturer from Newcastle who became a magistrate in his twenties, seven years ago, said during the last recruitment drive: 'I grew up in a very deprived part of Middlesbrough and saw a lot of crime as well as victims of crime.

'Magistrates are the balance between the police and professional judges and the public.'