I’m a Magistrate - AMA

[BettyCallMeAl]

I’m a magistrate, and since a few people at work have asked me about it, I thought I’d do an AMA in case others have questions.

I am a Presiding Justice in adult criminal courts, holding trials and sentencing across the whole range of cases from theft to drugs, assault, domestic violence, criminal damage, sexual offences, traffic etc (96% of all criminal offence are dealt with by Magistrates - only the most serious are not). I also adjudicate on search warrants for drugs / immigration, various other things.

If you want to know more about what we do, what works well / doesn’t, ask away. Or if you might want to become a magistrate, are due to appear in court as a defendant / witness, and want to know how it all works, I am here.

(so long as you address me as Your Worship and take your hands out of your pockets) 😊

I’d love to do this, but I have a full time job and kids! How do people balance the role with other commitments? And does the unpaid nature of the role mean only a narrow group of people can do it?

Do you feel concerned for your safety?

How much Lee way do you have when deciding a sentence. I’m guessing there’s parameters, is it up to you where in that parameter you put the sentence?

how much you paid?

How much time does this require each week? Do you have to travel to other courts?

my husband applied twice to be one but got rejected. any tips?

I’m the same (42, work full time, two DCs under 12).

The commitment is 13 full days a year, maybe one more training day a year, with five days training at the start, and more to become a Presiding Justice (which is a choice you can make after 5 years, alongside choosing Family or Youth work).

It helps to have an understanding boss and partner. The days are sometimes long and always demanding. I work harder in court than at work!

I get given paid leave for 8 days and take the rest as annual leave (I have a public sector job). I think the need to commit to an unpaid role does impact on the pool of candidates, sadly. There are a lot of public sector or retired people. But there are plenty who are neither of those things. It’s definitely manageable.

I’m interested in becoming one but am worried I would be too lenient. Do you find this difficult?

Do you work close to your home? Are you worried about reprisals?

Commenting for interest - I've been looking at this for a couple of years but there are no vacancies in my region.

Did you train first and then apply, or apply and then train?

And what made you decide adult justice over family courts?

No. Everyone is airport-style scanned before coming into court. There are security guards in the building. We have a separate secure entrance / exit, a panic button, and there are locked docks. Sometimes people get aggressive but I’ve never been seriously concerned.

I have thought about what would happen if I bumped into someone outside of court that I’d sentenced. But this has never happened and I don’t worry about it.

Thankyou for doing an ama. I'm working towards going into youth magistrate in the future. Is there any paths/experiences you would recommend doing to prepare and/or help with the application? How often do you do the role and can it fit in with school times?

I'm a youth worker and also work in supporting alternative learning for young people that have come out of education. I also volunteer as a youth offending team volunteer sitting on panels (just started)

There are sentencing guidelines for almost all offences, to give consistency. These are usually very helpful. But we’re not bound by them, and frequently choose to go above or below depending on circumstances. As long as we can justify it and give our reasons in court, it’s fine. We can sentence up to 1year in prison though. That’s a hard limit. If we wanted to go above that we’d have to send it to the Crown Court.

Travel expenses and £7 for lunch only. No wage.

It's a voluntary role. Unpaid.

Minimum commitment is 13 days per year.

When you apply, you specify what courts you want to sit at (up to 3). I sit in my local court almost every time but have sat elsewhere. If your rota slot is at another court you can usually easily swap.

Difficult to know without knowing why he was rejected. The applications are skills-based rather than knowledge-based. I think just showing enthusiasm is the most helpful thing. A willingness to learn, and empathy.
Sorry that’s not a very sophisticated reply.

Do you know many of the other magistrates and do you think the role attracts a specific type of person?

Can you handle the truth?

Thank you for this OP. I have lots of questions!

How secure do you feel in your decision making and judgement? Is this an area where you felt you were particularly strong before, did the training help?

How much choice do you have in sentencing etc - are the guidelines very prescriptive? (Edit: I see this is already answered!)

I have been interested in applying for this, haven’t thought about it for a couple of years in a blur of young kids! I went to an open day a few years ago and it was clear they had too many middle class middle age volunteers and really needed some diversity. So middle class and 40, should I be applying, should I be standing aside to let someone else with different life experience do it, or should I trust that the system will pick the most appropriate person?

Sometimes yes. There are always 3 of you though, so any unduly lenient (or severe) sentence is likely to be shown up as such by the other two. There’s plenty of time for discussion, and the guidelines help.

The trickiest ones are where the defendants are struggling mentally or in their wider lives with abuse etc. But in the end it’s always a judgement call. Sometimes I wish we knew more about how people fare afterwards, but we don’t.

Training comes after application. Before applying, you should go and observe some courts. This helps you understand the role more, and if you’re interviewed as part of the application process they ask you about what you saw. If you tell the court staff you’re a would-be magistrate, sometimes the magistrates will invite you back for a chat if you want. We do that whenever an observer is in.

When I became a magistrate (nearly 10 years ago) it wasn’t possible to directly apply for Family. That’s why I didn’t! But I would probably not anyway. The cases are more in depth so there are fewer of them. There’s more out of court prep-work to do which is difficult for me with work /my own family, and honestly I think I don’t care quite as much about that kind of stuff.

When i applied I knew nobody. A couple of my friends have since applied, having seen me do it, so I know them! But I’m not friends with anyone I’ve met as a magistrate. Everyone’s friendly in court, and I think there is a bit of a social scene but mainly the retired ones with more time on their hands.

There are certain professions and backgrounds that are over-represented, I’d say - public sector people, older people. But there is good diversity in terms of sex and ethnicity. I do think there’s a proper class diversity problem though. Almost nobody I meet as a magistrate (and I include myself in this) has experience of real poverty, drugs, mental ill health, abuse, being on the other side of the criminal justice system, and the types of problems defendants present with all the time. We’re all middle class professional graduates.

Absolutely not. I’m not even a magistrate. But don’t tell anyone.

Good questions, and the fact that you’re asking them makes me think you’re just the kind of person we need!

I feel more secure in my decision making as time goes on. I’ve made hundreds of decisions now, and it gets easier. At first I felt very insecure, wondering about what would happen if I got it ‘wrong’. But the training is really helpful, as they take you through the structured processes for decision making. Guidelines for sentencing are very helpful too.

But the most helpful thing is being part of a team of three (one of whom will be a senior magistrate who is your mentor, at first). Discussing it with your fellow magistrates really helps, and you always have a Legal Adviser there too to call on.

As for your last question - I do think that there are too many middle class magistrates. But they shouldn’t put you off applying because the empathy and self awareness you show in your questions goes a long way to addressing any unconscious bias you might have. And as for your age - 40 is very young for a magistrate (God, I’m 42 so let’s agree that early 40s is young generally!). I am almost always the youngest of my three, even now nearly ten years in. Only about 10% are under 40 I think. Something like that. I do see more younger ones now, which is great.