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Magistrates - social background

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Social background

"Broadly reflects the community which it serves"

Non-white magistrates

Conservative

Bond & Lemon (1979) study:

What sort of people become magistrates?

Magistrates come from a wide range of backgrounds and occupations. They are people with personal integrity and a good knowledge of their local community.

They also have the ability to listen to all sides of an argument and contribute to fair and reasonable decisions. They must, of course, be reliable and have time to give to the requirements of the office.

Perceptions of magistrates

"Middle-class; middle-aged; middle-minded; and middle-of-the-road"

'Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice' is determined that the social composition of the magistracy reflects the community it serves, subject to all magistrates fulfilling the merit criteria for appointment.

It is considered important that magistrates reflect their community by, for example, representing a dominant industry in the area and reflect the proportions of minority ethnics.

The social composition includes

• age

• gender

• social class

• ethnicity

• political affiliation

The Auld Report

A Review of the Criminal Courts of England and Wales by Lord Justice Auld (The Auld Review/Report)
Full text here

JPs are not representative of society.

The Auld Report says that

"although the lay magistracy are a sign of the active engagement of the citizen in the administration of justice, the distinction between them and District Judges in this and other respects is diminishing"

They are unrepresentative in age and social class and, in some places, in ethnicity.

The Auld Report drew on a number of reports notably Morgan and Russell.

Report of Professor Rod Morgan and Neil Russell, "The judiciary in the magistrates" courts", published in December 2000

Full report here

Morgan and Russell’s main findings were that the magistracy is not wholly representative of the community.

The fact that the magistracy is not a true reflection of the population nationally or of communities locally is confirmed by a number of studies, of which the Morgan and Russell research is only the latest.

Problems are derived from recruitment

The main problem is in the recruitment and the identifying the right pool of candidates, not in the criteria for or how they are appointed.

Auld says urgent steps must be taken to make it less unrepresentative.

Low expenditure on recruiting

Although in recent months the MoJ is advertising and promoting the  magistracy, the overall budget on recruiting is low.

Gender balance

Male/female balanced

The following table shows that gender is fairly well balanced in the magistracy, these figures appear in the MoJ annual reports.

Ethnicity

Local problems with ethnicity

The magistracy reflects the population at a national level, that is:

• 2% black,

• 2% from the Indian sub-continent or Asian origin and

• 1% other.

However, there are substantial local variations, particularly the lack of fit between local benches and the communities they serve.

This is particularly the case in London where black minority ethnic (BME) communities are not represented amongst the lay magistracy in anything like the proportion in which they are found within the general population.

Ethnicity ratio is improving

The department of the 'Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice' is now correcting this and there has been a steady annual improvement in recruitment of members of minority ethnics from 6% to 8.5% since 1995.

Social class

Professional or middle class

As to status or class, the magistracy is overwhelmingly drawn from professional and managerial ranks, that is, “disproportionately middle class, and almost certainly financially well-off, compared to the population at large” (Auld).

Age

Dominated by older members

A high proportion, about two-fifths, have retired from full-time work, and this shows up because they can sit more often than those in work.

Youngest JP is 19

Lucy Tate JP, a 19-year-old law student was appointed to the Pontefract bench in 2006, she is the youngest magistrate ever to be appointed.
 

82% are over 50

Political affiliation

Lack of evidence of politics

Although the 'Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice' requires local benches to reflect the political affiliation of the community they serve (and makes appointments with that in mind) his assessment is based largely on political turnout at the most recent election and cannot practically take into account changes in political affiliation of existing members of local benches.

Not surprisingly, there are no firm indications of the national or local political balances but the MoJ collects some details of political affiliation of magistrates.

Political Affiliation

Similar people are magistrates

Morgan and Russell’s findings, if representative of the picture country-wide, show a worrying picture of the ethnic and social makeup of benches.

Morgan and Russell have referred to it in relation to social mix:

“If the duties of lay magistrates are relatively onerous as well as being unpaid, it is not surprising that the composition of benches consists overwhelmingly of persons with the time and personal resources to bear that burden”

Does political affiliation matter?

Opinions on the politics of the magistracy has changed since the Royal Commission on Justices of the Peace 1946-48

The report in 1948 thought there should be control of political parties because the political party selected similar politically minded applicants for the bench:

"The dominance of members of political parties has meant that justices have been drawn too narrowly from certain sections of the community, recommendations for appointment being made on the ground of good political party record.

 

"While there is no reason to think that political partisanship has affected the decisions of benches, 'political' appointments are to the condemned because they are not true selections on merit.

 

"The proportions of members of committees appointed for their political affiliations should be restricted and enquiries of party political headquarters should cease."

However one member disagreed and said that regard to the political affiliations of a proportion of members should stop.

The modern view

Members of some extreme organisations disqualify themselves for appointment, otherwise it is expected that magistrates will try cases on the evidence and in accordance with their oath, and not allow politics to influence them.

Possible reforms

4 alternatives for securing a more representative magistracy

A number of alternatives have been suggested for securing a more representative magistracy:

• First, to make the role and terms of service of a magistrate more attractive to and manageable for a wider range of the community than it is at present, while maintaining its ‘volunteer’ ethos;

• Second, the introduction of a system of short-term conscription akin to that of jury service;

• Third, co-option of citizens “on a rotating basis, each serving, say, a specified number of sittings for one year”;

• Fourth, election, perhaps along the lines adopted, in the main, at similar levels in the United States.

Any form of conscription would radically change and diminish the strengths of magistrates.

Auld prefers making the role of magistrates more attractive

The first of the four alternatives is thought to be the way ahead, starting with a review of how the role and terms of service of a magistrate might be adapted to attract a wider range of persons than it does at present.

The average number and length of sittings should be a norm, not as a strait-jacket.

There may be scope for magistrates to sit more or less often, for longer or shorter periods at a time and more flexibly, according to their individual circumstances.

...and some financial reward?

Lord Justice Auld also believes that, whilst maintaining as far as possible the essentially voluntary nature of the role, consideration should be given to providing greater financial assistance than at present to those who might need it.

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