Dear Editor,
I would like to extend my support for the passing of the Lay Magistrate’s Court Bill as part of the government’s attempt to ease the backlog of cases in the Magistrate’s Court. Lay magistrates have quite a long history in the English legal system dating back to the Justices of the Peace Act, 1361. Currently there are some 30,000 lay magistrates in the United Kingdom (also called Justices of Peace or JPs) hearing close to one million criminal cases a year.
They are often seen as the backbone of the British criminal justice system, and deemed a success story in keeping the wheels of justice flowing. As I support the implementation of the bill I would like to make the following recommendations for the effective functioning of this new system.
First, the Chancellor who has an integral role in the implementation of the new system, should ensure that those persons appointed lay magistrates are exposed to training, with a view to maintaining decision-making consistency in the different magistrate courts across the country.
Secondly, I support Ms Deborah Backer’s position of the need for more than one lay magistrate to adjudicate. In the UK lay magistrates generally sit in groups of threes. This allows for more balanced opinions.
Finally, the appointment of persons holding law degrees as clerks to the magistrates is a step in the right direction, as their legal knowledge will complement the lay magistrates in carrying out their functions. I would like to suggest that those clerks be provided with the necessary training in criminal and civil procedures, along with the rules of evidence to supplement their theoretical background, thus allowing them to be well informed when giving advice to the magistrates.
Yours faithfully,
Michael Baird (Jr)
