English Legal System

Lay magistrates powers are derived from the Justice of Peace Act 1361 and serve the purpose to catch criminals. Today there are 28,000 lay magistrates and hear around 1 million cases hence they are referred to as the ‘backbone of the English Criminal Justice System’ ( Elliott & Quinn English legal System.pg 272).

Magistrates are often given a generalised image that they do not represent the social class system of the society. It was suggested in the 1948 Report of the Royal Commission on Justices of the Peace that ¾ of the magistrates came from professional or middle class occupations. Similar results were identified in the more recent research conducted by Rod Morgan and Neil Russell (2000), majority of magistrates were employed in professional or managerial positions.

Major criticism of magistrates is that they are not representative of the community they serve e.g., in a deprived metropolitan area 79% of the bench members are thought to be professionals or managers compared to the 20% of the local population. One of the main reasons for this imbalance of background as to who becomes a lay magistrate is down to the level of commitment required to be a lay magistrate. Duties of magistrate often include taking time off from work and this can prove to be difficult for those who are not as high up on the hierarchy of employment as others. Therefore those who are self-employed or able enough to exercise their own power without causing damage to their employability status are likely to become magistrates. As a result this means that those who are not from professional and managerial areas are not represented well enough and they are still drawn from more middle class occupations.

Magistrates also tend to be from an older age group, the average age group of a magistrate is 57. Statistics highlight that 4% of magistrates are under the age of 40 and third of magistrates are in their 60’s. The professional background of a magistrate runs parallel with other factors such as age. An easy example can be drawn that people at the beginning of their careers are more dependent on their employers since they do not have greater autonomy to make decisions for themselves. At a younger age it can be said that it is the time where majority would consider about settling down and raise a family hence their commitments are elsewhere, as oppose to working as a magistrate. However the need for younger magistrates would help broaden the view on the lifestyle of the younger generation which perhaps may help magistrates in understanding the society much better.

The percentage of black magistrates was once only 2% reported in the 1987 government report. Nevertheless more recent figures published in 2003 clearly show that lay magistrates are starting to reflect the diversity of the society more so then ever before. Today 6% of magistrates come from an ethnic background this is in proportionate to the 7.9% of ethnic minorities who make