Before applying to become a magistrate you must visit a magistrates court when it is in sitting, at least once. If an applicant is employed, they must establish with their employer that they will be allowed to take a reasonable amount of time off work, to undertake the duties of a magistrate.
Magistrates are not professional lawyers, in fact they may have little or no legal knowledge as they will receive training before and after their appointment. Also a court clerk always sits with the bench to advise them on relevant aspects of the law.
Three magistrates sit at each case and there is no jury. The three magistrates are referred to as ‘the bench’. One of these magistrates is called the chair and will always speak for the bench. The magistrates will hear issues on fact and law and then decide the final verdict and sentence.
A magistrate must live in the local area of the court they would like to be considered for or within fifteen miles of its boundaries. Candidates must have a reasonable amount of knowledge of the area to which they wish to be appointed and are generally expected to have lived in the area for at least a year.
Usually the Lord Chancellor will only consider candidates between 27 and 65 years of age. People under 27 may apply but will only be appointed if they can prove that they meet the key qualities looked for. All magistrates must retire from the bench at the age of 70.
Few people are automatically disqualified from becoming a magistrate. Anyone who has been convicted of a serious offence or an undischarged bankrupt will not be appointed. Anyone working for court associated organisations or a partner or spouse of someone working for them may also be disqualified.
Magistrates are not paid for their service but may claim allowances, within specified limits, for travelling and subsistence. Most employers will allow time off with pay but if a magistrate suffers loss of earnings, they may claim a financial loss allowance.
Magistrates must sit at least 26 half days a year and should try to be available to sit 35 half days a year. Magistrates should also be prepared to sit for a whole day if necessary. 70 sittings a year is the maximum for those sitting solely in the adult courts, but there is a maximum of 100 for those also sitting on specialist panels.
In court a half day sitting is counted as one attendance. Sittings in the morning and afternoon of the same day count as two attendances but the afternoon sitting must be a minimum of one hour long. Sittings in the adult court, licensing and betting committees, if they meet on separate occasions, also count as one attendance.
Members of specialist committees are responsible for the administration of liquor licensing system and for the grant or refusal of applications for licences and permits relating to betting and the registration of gaming clubs, although, most magistrates carry out some routine licensing work.
Magistrates are expected to play a part in the life of the bench and where possible, attend bench meetings e.t.c. They are expected to deal, at home, with requests for warrants for arrest and search and to take declarations of various kinds. They may also undertake work out of court, as members of committees, such as an MCC.
A magistrates’s court committee (MCC) is a group of up to twelve magistrate members selected by a statutory selection panel for each magistrate’s courts committee area. The powers and duties of MCCs, and the requirements for the selection process, are laid down in legislation. Each MCC is responsible for the provision of an efficient and high quality service to the public within its area. MCCs have no power to own or lease land or premises – all committee premises are owned or leased by the paying authority, which also provide 20% of MCC finding. The other 80% is the responsibility of the Lord Chancellor’s department, subject to a cash limit.
Each MCC has a strategic plan with specific direction and aims identifying objectives and targets covering the following areas: staff management, premises management, resources management, information technology, organisation of petty sessional divisions, justices’s training and service efficiency and qualities. In discharging these responsibilities the MCC considers setting targets, reports on progress in meeting objectives and performance against identified benchmarks. Each MCC also tales local decisions, making specific provisions for local budget preparation and management arrangements, committee arrangements regarding use of sub-committees or panels, production of an annual report and much more.
Each MCC appoints a chairman who will chair MCC meetings. The chairman will be in regular contact with committee members to ensure that they are fully consulted and involved in the decision making process. The chairman is also the MCC’s main spokesperson on any policy matters. The chairman must develop close working relationships with the deputy chairman and the chairman of any sub-committees or panels which the MCC operate.
The magistrates court deals with around 95% of all criminal cases in Adult and Youth courts in England and Wales. If someone commits a criminal offence they must be brought before a magistrate as soon as possible.
All summary offences are heard in the magistrates court. These are minor offences that can only be heard in the magistrates court. They are usually motoring offences but minor assaults and criminal charges of up to £5000 are also summary offences. A summary offence is not required by law to be sent to a higher court for trial by jury. Other minor offences, such as shop-lifting or disorderly behaviour, and cases involving crimes such as, a less serious burglary, assault, fraud or drug offence can also be heard in the magistrates court.
Triable-either-way offences may be heard in the magistrates court but the defendant may choose a trial by jury in the Crown Court, although most defendants in triable-either-way cases choose for them to be heard in the magistrates court. Triable-either-way offences include theft, burglary and assault causing actual bodily harm. If the defendant pleads guilty when in the magistrates court the case will be tried in the magistrates court but if the defendant pleads not guilty the magistrates have to decide whether the case should be heard in the magistrates court or in the Crown Court.
Any indictable offences heard in the magistrates court will simply be there for the purpose of transferring them to the Crown Court. Indictable offences include murder, rape , armed robbery and serious assault. An indictment is the formal document that sets out the charge or charges against the defendant. This is where these types of offences get their name from.
If a defendant is found not guilty, they are free to leave the courtroom but if they are found guilty it is then the magistrates’s job to decide a suitable sentence. Magistrates have limited sentencing powers so they may pass the case over to another court, such as the Crown Court, if they think their sentencing powers are insufficient. If a defendant has chosen for their case not to be heard in the magistrates court they will usually tried in the Crown Court. The Crown Court has a lot more sentencing power then the magistrates court so a downside to this choice is if they are found guilty they are likely to have a harsher punishment than a magistrates court would give.
For a single criminal offence committed by an adult, a magistrates sentencing powers include the imposition of fines, community service orders, probation orders or a period of time in custody. Magistrates cannot normally order sentences which exceed 6 months (or 12 months for consecutive sentences) or fines exceeding £5000. Magistrates may also sit in the Crown court with a judge to hear appeals from magistrates’s courts against conviction or sentence and proceedings on committal to the crown court for sentence.
Lisa Andersen