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Unit 1 BTEC Applied Law P2, P3, M1 (Lay Persons
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Essay of 7 pages for the course Unit 1 at East Surrey College
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Law – P2 & P3Lay Persons - Magistrates
The office of Magistrate has existed in England and Wales for hundreds of
years. It is the first tier in the criminal justice system and deals with
summary offences. The youth court is also a part of the magistrates’ court
and is for offenders aged 10-17. A magistrate is a lay person that is not
officially trained in law, they sit in a panel of 3 to 5 and hear summary
criminal cases, aided by a qualified legal advisor (clerk) who advises them
on the law and legal matters, they also see that the court is run properly.
The clerk is not allowed to help with or contribute to the decision of the
verdict or sentence, he is simply there to advise on the law and make sure
that the magistrates understand the law. In the case Ahmed V
Birmingham Magistrates’, the clerk was accused of taking part in the
decision of the verdict, this behaviour is forbidden and consequently the
guilty verdict was later overturned in the court of appeal. Their role is to
decide the verdict and sentence to be given to the offender. Everyone who
is charged with a criminal offence is presumed innocent until proven guilty
and is entitled to a fair and public hearing, magistrates just like judges
have to make sure that this happens in their court. All criminal cases start
in the magistrates’ court and 97% are concluded there, including
sentencing. These all include summary offences such as most motoring
offences, public order offences and less serious assaults.
The advantages of using Lay Magistrates in the legal system are
that; they are not paid, they give up their time voluntarily to help at their
local court. This means that, compared to Judges they are far less
expensive to use. Also, Magistrates may have ‘local knowledge’ because
they live or work near the court. This means they may have better
knowledge of particular problems within their area. However, as most
Magistrates will come from the professional or managerial classes, it is
unlikely that they live in or have any great knowledge of the problems
within the poorer neighbourhoods. Improved training for magistrates
means that they are no longer ‘complete amateurs’ and the majority of
decisions require common sense rather than official legal training.
The disadvantages of using Lay Magistrates are that; they are
generally middle aged and middle class, a report in 2000 found that 40%
of magistrates were retired and overwhelmingly from a professional or
managerial background. However, they are from a much wider range of
background than professional judges. There is an inconsistency in
sentencing, the governments White Paper – Justice For All set out
differences found in criminal statistics. But, the figures have to be viewed
in context, for example only 4% of offenders seen by magistrates receive
a prison sentence so even though one figure may boast a much higher
custody rate in one district than in another, the reality may not be quite
as shocking when viewed in context. The Magistrates rely on the clerk, the
lack of legal knowledge should be offset by the presence of the clerk but
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