Dire Magistrates: Who are Britain’s self-selecting arbiters of justice?

2023-05-26

Around 12,000 people in England and Wales volunteer as magistrates. That means they can sentence people to up to a year in prison. Yet they have barely any training and no legal qualifications. Penelope Gibbs, the director of Transform Justice, tells Ros Taylor about the problems with relying on a self-selecting, middle-class magistracy who may never have seen inside a jail. They talk about the difficulties in trying to hold remote hearings during the pandemic and how a cash-strapped system struggles to deliver justice. “The training for magistrates is woeful, and I and o...

Around 12,000 people in England and Wales volunteer as magistrates. That means they can sentence people to up to a year in prison. Yet they have barely any training and no legal qualifications. Penelope Gibbs, the director of Transform Justice, tells Ros Taylor about the problems with relying on a self-selecting, middle-class magistracy who may never have seen inside a jail. They talk about the difficulties in trying to hold remote hearings during the pandemic and how a cash-strapped system struggles to deliver justice.

“The training for magistrates is woeful, and I and others have been saying that for years.” – Penelope Gibbs
“There used to be really feisty magistrates who would speak out but gradually their independence has been ground down.” – Penelope Gibbs
“It’s an incredibly closed and untransparent system.” – Penelope Gibbs
“What happens in magistrates court is pretty hidden most of the time.” – Penelope Gibbs

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Written and presented by Ros Taylor Producer: Chris Jones. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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