Could you be a magistrate?

[Netcurtainnelly]

There's a big volunteer recruitment drive for magistrates at the moment?
Does it interest you?

Just to add to the thread, I was looking at CourtServe to try and get an idea of what was going on at my local magistrates court and it seemed wildly variable what there was information about on a given day. I wasn't sure if this meant that on some days there were actually very few cases sitting so I rang the central number up today and they said there are still plenty of cases on. So I think that you can take CourtServe with a pinch of salt and that it still might well be worth pitching up if you want to learn more. Quite why the online system doesn't seem to have all the information on it is another question.

I only learned of CourtServe after I’d been sitting for 2-3 years. It’s sort-of handy, but absolutely doesn’t cover everything, so I wouldn’t take a lack of listings to mean it’ll be a quiet day. Remands, particularly, don’t lend themselves to pre-listing - and there’ll always be remands taking place, including Saturdays and some bank holidays.

@maggymcmagface @grumpygrape it's good if you think it wouldn't be an issue. I used to be in an elected role and was worried about people finding out, in case of misconduct in public office. It's more the kink aspect than the polyamory - since leaving office I've felt more free to not have to worry about it, but now that I'm a regular citizen I'm at public events in a state of undress and I assumed being a magistrate would be a similar role where I could get into trouble. Previously I had to disclose anything in my past that could be concerning/newsworthy - it's possibly worth me applying and telling them, and let them make their own judgement about it.

I think, as you say, telling them and let them decide.

Following my negative comments about the long wait, I am pleased to say I has now passed the Situational Judgement Test and offered an interview. The email warned it may be a long wait :( Still at least I am still in. The test was harder than I anticipated!

‘Hang them’ or ‘give them a £fiver, pat them on the head and send them on their way’ are the best answers 😉

Good luck and I hope the mills grind as quickly as possible.

Yes. But when I applied a few years ago it proved to be very hard to get info

More regions are now showing as actively recruiting https://magistrates.affinixats.co.uk/jobtools/jncustomsearch.searchResults?in_organid=20425&in_jobDate=All

My DD was appointed as a magistrate in her early 20s whilst at university. She has been sitting for 4 years and loves her days in court. She finds it fascinating, loves working with the other magistrates and has learnt so much. She brings a different perspective and youth to the bench.

She found grad job interviews a breeze compared to her magistrate's interview. She has found the legal knowledge and eye for detail has had a major impact on the direction of her career.

Wowza that's AMAZING 🤩

This is quite interesting

https://sentencingcouncil.org.uk/resources/you-be-the-judge/

"You be the Judge is an interactive website created by the Sentencing Council with support from the Judiciary of England and Wales. It puts you in the role of a judge or magistrate to make decisions based on real-life cases and decide what you think the sentence should be. You can then compare your sentence to the one given by the judge or magistrates."

What do you mean? Being a magistrate is a voluntary role, so how can magistrates in your area not be volunteers?

Unless things have changed recently, the are District Judges (formerly Stipendiary Magistrates) who sit in Magistrates Court on their own and are paid but I've not heard of any area where there aren't Lay Magistrates (part time, unpaid).

Yes

Where I live it's not a voluntary role.

If you don’t mind me asking, are you UK-based? And if so, what is the role where you live? I’m really curious, as I’ve only ever known magistrate roles to be voluntary.

I'm in Ireland. The role of the magistrate is carried out in the District Court by a judge.