Calm under pressure [October 2008] Calm under pressure [October 2008]
In control of our own training [July 2008]
Still alive and kicking [June 2008]
Earthquakes, floods and leadership [May 2008]
A process of engagement [April 2008]
Breaking down the barriers [March 2008]
Reconnecting prisoners with the world [February 2008]
Magistrates supporting charities [February 2008]
A foot in another world… [January 2008]
Read about magistrates' day to day experiences of sitting in: a family court, youth court, on adult cases [January 2008]
The long and winding road [Winter 2007]
Caroline Masom finds that the job of listings officer suits those who like a challenge
Any well-run court has iceberg tendencies – the bit you see is kept afloat by the large hidden mass below. From time to time in the magazine we describe some of the support jobs which are vital to the smooth running of the court, looking this time at that of listings officer.
In East Berkshire the job is complicated by the fact that eight court rooms are spread between three separate courthouses located in Slough, Maidenhead and Bracknell, reducing the possibility of transferring cases between courts and very occasionally resulting in a justice wishing he or she had checked the diary more carefully before leaving home! Mostly, however, things run like clockwork, thanks to listings officer Lynn Brandon, her assistant Laura Stephenson and their recently appointed administrative assistant Polly Pannu, all of whom are based in the Slough courthouse. It’s a busy office, with ushers, court administrative staff and legal advisers popping in and out.
Lynn’s day begins with sorting out the custody list and establishing who’s in on a warrant, or on a new charge. Most days (including Saturdays and Bank Holidays) see between eight and 14 custody cases. All the charge sheets are faxed through every morning and must be logged into the diary. Incoming summons are recorded, signed by the legal advisers and sent back out, witness summons are prepared, solicitors’ requests for adjournments and Crown Prosecution Service applications for special measures are all recorded and dealt with. Each day is likely to see a couple of surrenders to warrant and two or three breaches, not to mention calls from solicitors, probation, the council and members of the public, some of whom occasionally turn up in person knowing that they’ve ‘got to come to court’ but not being entirely sure why!
Lynn also line manages the team of seven ushers and is responsible for their rota and for recruitment.
For Laura, whose special responsibility is magistrate liaison, each day starts with checking telephone messages and e-mails and preparing and distributing the day lists and custody lists. If a magistrate or the district judge calls in sick, rapid reshuffling and some quick phone calls ensure that a full bench sits wherever one is needed. From 10am the listings hot line from all the court rooms across the area begins to ring with the legal advisers calling for trial and pre-sentence report dates. Roughly 40 trials are listed per week across the area and part of Laura’s job is sending out requests for volunteers for trial benches. She also makes sure new magistrates are scheduled to sit with their mentors and, once a year, works out the main rota, a substantial task with a bench of 170 justices, all of whom sit in all three courthouses. Once the availability calendar has been sent out and returned, everything is logged in to the computer and the rota is run. Each justice’s sittings are checked individually to ensure a reasonable spread and a balanced bench, taking into account individual scheduling requirements and filling up any vacancies.
There is no specialised training for listings officers and both Lynn and Laura learnt on the job, Lynn having spent over 20 years working in a legal environment both in a solicitor’s office and as PA to a deputy justices’ clerk, while Laura has a background in industrial customer relations as well as having worked for a solicitor. Contact with other listings officers tends to be limited to remittals and transfers only.
With a total of nearly 12 years of experience in listings between them, both Lynn and Laura see the full deployment of the Libra system as being potentially responsible for the most significant changes in their jobs, enabling more court management of trials and (eventually) the change-over to a completely electronic diary. Currently the electronic diary is backed up by a reassuringly tangible manual daily version. The successful implementation of CJSSS and East Berkshire’s current focus on case progression have also had positive effects, with fewer adjournments and overall fewer listings of cases between first time in and trial.
It’s hardly surprising that Laura rates a good sense of humour as a prerequisite for the job – along with not minding constant interruptions and being able to multi-task. Lynn, who admits to liking a challenge and the adrenaline rush of sorting out problems, points out that one of the good things about the job is that problems rarely drag on, with each day’s issues needing to be sorted out straight away. Going home with a clear desk is always a good feeling.
Caroline Masom sits in East Berkshire.
Henry Emblem JP discusses the work of the Magistrates’ Area Training Committee in Cambridgeshire
Most magistrates are aware of the magistrates’ area training committee (MATC) but less familiar with its purpose and function. The MATC performs a key role with respect to training, from newly appointed justices to experienced chairmen.
The training requirements for members of each bench are identified by the respective bench training and development committee (BTDC), but it is the responsibility of each justices’ clerk to ensure delivery of that training within the budget of the Her Majesty’s Courts Service (HMCS) area. This is where the MATC comes in. MATCs were formed as a requirement of the Courts Act 2003 and took some of the responsibilities for magistrate training from the magistrates’ courts committees that ceased to exist when HMCS came into being. Whilst MATCs did not start official duties until 2006, a ‘shadow’ MATC was formed in 2005 to allow for training and familiarisation.
The Cambridgeshire MATC consists of the chairs of each BTDC, a representative of the Magistrates’ Association, the justices’ clerk and representatives from the senior judiciary. The area director attends, as do the principal legal adviser responsible for training, and the confidential secretary who looks after training administration (potentially the most important role on the MATC, as the administrator books all venues and trainers, sends out reminders to delegates and copies materials for training sessions). Whilst all take part in the discussions, only magistrates, the senior judiciary and justices’ clerk vote, should this be necessary.
It is recognised that training of magistrates is a judicial function and that magistrates should be in control of their own training. To ensure this, the majority of members of the MATC must be magistrates, and only a magistrate can chair the committee.
SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS OF THE MATC
In Cambridgeshire we are fortunate that justices’ training was very well organised prior to the MATC and we have an excellent team of legal advisers involved in our training.
USING LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
When MATCs were first formed, each HMCS area had an MATC and in Cambridgeshire this covered Cambridge, East Cambridgeshire, Huntingdon, Peterborough and Fenland benches. Since HMCS reorganised into larger areas, legislation has been put in place to allow MATCs to continue with the previous arrangements or to combine to cover the new enlarged areas. This meant that one MATC could have covered Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. It was the view of our MATC that this was not desirable, as the geographic area involved would inevitably mean a loss of local knowledge and focus.
I have always had a deep interest in training and attend all training events that I can in both my professional and magisterial roles and, having organised Magistrates’ Association training days previously, I was nominated to be the Magistrates’ Association representative for the shadow MATC. I was very pleased to be elected to take the role of chair in 2007, and I am now in my second year. In closing I would encourage members of the Magistrates’ Association to consider becoming the representative on the MATC and contribute to the training of colleagues and future justices.
Henry Emblem JP sits at Huntingdon
Tony Kerr JP relives the fight to keep Sutton court open
(Left to right) Paul Burstow MP, Tony Kerr JP, and Tom Brake MP on the day
they heard that the appeal against the court closure had been successful.
In 1985, shortly after being appointed, I was introduced to a Colonel Wells, past chairman of the bench. In 1961 it was his dedication and hard work that secured the court we are now so proud of, at an overall cost of £138,000. I will always remember Col Wells’s parting words to me: ‘don’t let all the hard work and long history of the court ever be lost’. So you may imagine how I felt, in my first year as chairman, when I heard that the plan was that I should be the last.
In that year, 2001, the government decided to bring all the magistrates’ courts in London under the control of the new Greater London Magistrates’ Courts Authority (GLMCA). The creation of an administrative organisation where none had existed before meant substantial costs for new staff, pensions, office accommodation and so on. They had to find enough savings, in effect from frontline services, to cover their costs – and a bit more besides, to show that the change had been worthwhile. Like any new management they had to make changes, not to improve the quality of service, but to show that they were doing something.
Amongst the first changes was the removal of the justices’ clerks from the individual courthouses; then came the creation of strategic plans, an endless round of meetings and the demoralisation of staff who had loyally served their local court for many years. Then came the announcement that courts could only be efficient if they were large, and that several of the smaller courts would be closed, including my own in Sutton.
THE CAMPAIGN
Our initial response was to get together a small group of senior members of the bench to draft rebuttals of the proposals. One of those whose services I called on was, fortuitously, someone who had worked in government and was familiar with the ways of bureaucrats. Under his tutelage I learned how to beat the paper-pushers at their own game, and this article sets out some of the principles we adopted.
In many ways the first lesson was the hardest to learn. In order for a court to be closed there has to be a consultation process which centres on a document invariably filled with statistics. There are inflexible timescales for responding and we became involved in a protracted sequence of correspondence. It would have been impossible to copy all of the documents to a large group of people, collate their thoughts, draft the next round of correspondence, agree it with colleagues and respond quickly. We ended up with a working group of two, of which I was one. This required trust and forbearance on the part of our colleagues, knowing that we were all working for the same cause.
The next lesson was not to accept anything which cannot be proved. We had to fight to get the detailed statistics used to calculate how the work from our court could be fitted in elsewhere. When we checked we found that they had not been added up correctly and the proposals were not viable.
IT’S ALL ABOUT MONEY
Another lesson was that an appeal on emotive grounds would not sway those with no attachment to the court. The history and tradition of the local court, the quality of service provided, the implications for the poorer members of the community who would have further to travel – all of these and other arguments were of less significance than purported budget savings. Even these were a chimera when the costs of redundancies, structural alterations required in other buildings to accommodate staff, travelling etc were added to the bills.
We were fortunate that we had the support of our two local Members of Parliament, several members of the Metropolitan Police Authority, the local police commander, the local newspaper, and many residents. Ultimately, however, we were unsuccessful in persuading the GLMCA to change their plans and we embarked on the long and tortuous route of appeal to the Lord Chancellor.
When the appeal was finally determined the minister, Christopher Leslie, said, ‘the court should remain open because the area served by the court had a sufficiently large population to justify its own local magistrates’ court’. After three years of being occupied virtually every day to save the court I can honestly say it was one of the proudest days of my life. The court would not be closed on my watch – but there was no guarantee of security in the long term.
Tony Kerr wishes to acknowledge the special support of a colleague in preparing this article and during the campaign for Sutton court.Richard Knott on the court manager’s job description
During my time as a court manager in the days before Her Majesty’s Courts Service (HMCS), I had dealt with such everyday problems as evacuating the building during an earthquake; explaining to a new judge that he had to pay for his coffee like everyone else; and identifying that the theft of lead flashing from the roof was behind the staff room flooding during a heavy rainstorm. So I considered myself suitably qualified to lead a working group set up to devise a standardised job description for court managers in HMCS.
The task, of course, implied an answer to the obvious question: is there really much difference between running a county, Crown or magistrates’ court? A meeting at national level with a number of judicial office holders soon gave me an insight into what they wanted from a court manager, and any differences started to look marginal. Good staff support, timely communications, a safe and secure working environment – these were themes which, with only slight changes of emphasis, could apply equally to what the public demand from their courts. As for court staff, leadership is leadership, whether the staff in question are issuing divorce petitions or producing court results.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
So it rapidly became clear that the basic requirements for the role could indeed be generic. Taking soundings from numerous existing postholders, we came up with five key headings which seemed to sum up what was required of a court manager in today’s rapidly changing environment:
We knew of course that not everyone likes the words ‘stakeholder’ or ‘customer’. Whilst these expressions are common currency in public service nowadays, the important thing was to capture, in the detail, what they actually meant. Inevitably, the result was a lengthy document: ten pages outlining typical activities under each heading, together with the desired outcomes. For example, under ‘stakeholder engagement’ we included:
‘Building and maintaining an effective partnership with the judiciary (judges and magistrates) and, where appropriate, legal teams’ – one desired outcome being: ‘judges, magistrates and legal teams are informed of what is going on within the court and consulted where appropriate’.
With an introduction, and examples of the qualities and skills required for these roles in different sizes of courts, the full document ran to over 30 pages. No one could accuse us of not being comprehensive! For practical day to day purposes, we went on to create a two-page summary – the Court manager job profile.
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
All this led to questions about how HMCS needs to support and train those with such a potentially intimidating list of responsibilities. Organisations often say that people are their most important resource; for the cliché to be meaningful in the real world, there is no more important factor than leadership, and court managers are responsible for leading approximately 85% of the HMCS workforce. So the organisation has embarked on a leadership programme that will cover, in just 15 months, all our court managers as well as their legal equivalents in magistrates’ courts. Three interlinked workshops will take court managers on a challenging but supportive journey, equipping them with the insight and attitude needed to succeed in this most important of roles. Separately, over 200 court managers helped to identify parts of the job description for which they needed to improve their knowledge and skills. As a result, all court managers will complete a checklist with their line manager at their end-of-year appraisal, and the findings will help determine corporate priorities for the provision of learning and development opportunities. Dedicated pages on the HMCS intranet will offer further support.
So we have come a long way from those early discussions with the judiciary about what they needed from court managers. How relevant is all this for magistrates’ courts, given that many JPs would look to the justices’ clerk, or their representative, for much of the support they need? I recently asked Professor Sam Moore, the chairman of the Greater Manchester justices’ issues group, how important the role of court manager was, given the existence of a head of legal services in every court:
‘The role is crucial for two reasons: first, the head of legal services is responsible for the judicial dimensions of the court’s business and that, in most courts, is a full-time job; but, second, the efficient management of resources to support the judicial function should be separate from that function – in that way, judicial independence is protected. A good court manager understands that separation.’
Richard Knott is the HMCS Area Director for Greater Manchester.
Roger Davy MBE JP looks back on many years’ work on Bradford bench and for the Magistrates’ Association
As I retire in July after 34 years as an active magistrate on Bradford bench perhaps I may be excused for giving a retrospective view of what I consider the most interesting and worthwhile voluntary work our country has to offer.
When I was appointed, in July 1974, uniformed police officers prosecuted the cases and my lady colleagues still wore hats, the brims of which in some cases were so large that anyone sitting in the well of the court would be unable to see who was addressing them. At 10.25am the ladies would join their gentlemen colleagues in the smoke-filled justices’ room for the list to be read, and by 11.15am all eight adult courts would retire, irrespective of how much work there was still to do, and the ushers would bring coffee and biscuits to each retiring room.
LOCAL JUSTICE
Those days are long gone, as are the days when we had the responsibility of running our own courthouse with our own justices’ clerk, but down the years I have had the privilege of sitting with a diverse group of Bradford folk, who, with an overall knowledge of the sights, sounds, and smells of our city, have endeavoured to continue that fine tradition of dispensing the best of local justice.
Bradford has always welcomed families from all over the world, particularly to work in the textile industry, and the city is now a multi-faith and multi-cultural community. We have had some local difficulties in recent years but great efforts continue to become a more cohesive society. Certainly in our courthouse, where approximately 15% of the justices come from the ethnic communities, there is a commitment and total understanding that we work as a team representing all peoples.
I shall always be grateful that I was asked to be a representative for West Yorkshire on our Association’s Council.
I felt that the experience of serving on a busy city centre bench with its wide range of work and social groups was an asset I could share with colleagues, in some cases from rather leafier suburbs.
This experience was particularly helpful when I was invited to join the Youth Courts Committee, and for five years I have worked with conscientious magisterial colleagues and professional legal representatives who have promoted and influenced the drafting of new legislation for the benefit of the young people who appear in our youth courts. In spite of the importance of the work it has also been enjoyable as we have pooled knowledge and experiences from the towns and counties we represent.
Not too many years ago in the youth court we were very limited in the disposals we had available. A conditional discharge, a fine, or attendance centre order were almost the only options available to us. In addition to the report from probation we had the invaluable help of a school report. Sadly we do not automatically receive the latter now but we must be grateful for the creation and support of our local youth offending teams and the current positive sentencing options. We tread a fine line between upholding the law and punishing offenders, but also act as peripheral social workers, introducing some structure into young lives and supporting the immediate family. The process of engagement with youngster and parent often gives us insight and understanding into the difficulties faced by children living in turbulent family circumstances.
CANNABIS RECLASSIFICATION
The increasing use of cannabis over the last few years, and its mention in many cases, has caused me much concern, particularly when youngsters of twelve and thirteen have appeared in our court for theft and robbery offences committed to further their addiction. This prompted me to ask the Youth Courts Committee, through our former chairman John Fassenfelt and vice chairman Ted Weston, to support my proposal to the committee, and ultimately the Association trustees, that we seek to have the classification reversed from a class C category to class B. The AGM in November 2006 overwhelmingly supported our view that the wrong message has gone out to the vulnerable youngsters we see in court. We have continued to lobby parliamentarians and legislators to express our concerns. We hope our efforts will be taken seriously in the ongoing constructive debate. We do not want reclassification to bring young people into the criminal system, but we are convinced that reverting to class B should be considered.
Although I shall leave the bench with regret, and will miss the companionship of colleagues both local and national, and the constant support of legal advisers, I shall be available for further challenges!
Visually impaired magistrates can manage the court
In the 1940s, visually impaired people were barred from being magistrates. After pilot schemes were run in the late 1990s and deemed successful, the rule was lifted, with Lord Irvine, then Lord Chancellor, saying that: “it is the abilities of magistrates that count and their disability need not stand in the way of serving the community in the important judicial role of the magistrate”.
Stratford, in east London, welcomed two visually impaired recruits in 1999. Clare Gailans JP and Kim Silver JP now tell us about their progress through chairmanship training and appraisal.
CLARE GAILANS
I have been a magistrate since 1999, a big year in general when we also moved house and area and I qualified with a new guide dog, always an upheaval for dog and owner alike. My progress towards training for the chair was slow, as first there were no funds, then Stratford bench seemed overloaded with chairmen. However, this was short-lived, and Kim and I were called to several meetings to discuss additional support we might need in the chair. As there is much support for all new chairs, this largely boiled down to stepping up the support through braille materials, though I have to say many colleagues went beyond the line of duty with help during supervised and appraised sittings.
I think it is unfortunate that the training literature refers regularly to the use of eye contact, since as a totally blind person this is a refinement of interpersonal communication that is not open to me. I would sooner we referred to ‘addressing remarks to’, ‘looking in the direction of’, or something similar, which I feel well placed to do. Once in the chair as a learner as it were, the one thing I decided to leave to the legal adviser, after an ignominious mistake (work it out), was the ‘stand ups’ and ‘sit downs’. Otherwise, I believe, and colleagues seem to agree, that I make as good, though fallible, a chairman as any with whom I have sat as a winger. As many wingers do, I reached the point when I felt ready to give the chair a go, and have been very pleased with the encouragement I have received.
I hope that by becoming the voice of the benches I chair, I can do a little more to persuade the public, or the microcosm of it that is made up of our court users, that a blind person can contribute something of equal value to that of a comparable sighted one.
KIM SILVER
A friend of mine came across an advert in the local newspaper inviting applications to the magistracy from visually-impaired people and put my name forward. The court manager phoned out of the blue saying ‘we hear you might be interested’! I don’t know if I’d have done it myself, but someone else pushing me a little gave me the impetus. I went through the same application process as anyone else, and in the interviews I specifically asked if there’d been any lowering of the criteria, and I was assured there hadn’t been.
Everyone is very supportive, and any training materials can be supplied however we want. I use braille court lists and the whole bench book is in braille – though it is a bit bulky! I had no assumptions about taking the chair, I thought ‘oh, I don’t know about that’, but as I got more confident in the role of a winger, I began to think perhaps I could. We had a meeting with the legal manager and admin manager to discuss things in principle and talk about the practical issues, especially how to manage the court. We came to the conclusion that it could be done, so Clare and I went through the same chairmanship training as everyone else. I enjoyed that and got a lot out of it. I wouldn’t have wanted the process to be short-cut for me in any way.
I’ve now been approved and have taken the chair a couple of times. The training says that eye contact is important, but I think we do make it up in other ways – I can judge atmospheres, and tell if someone’s upset by their voice. How the defendants and lawyers on the other side of the bench feel about it, I haven’t quite picked up on yet! It would be interesting to find out.
For me, it’s been a very positive experience, and being a magistrate and going through chairmanship training has given me more confidence to take on other challenges. I do appreciate people’s confidence in me – without that I couldn’t have got as far as I have.
Alexander McLean JP on his work for the African Prisons Project
Alexander at the Beacon Prize awards ceremony
The project is a group of volunteers from all areas of society, most especially students and young people, working together to assist prisoners in sub-Saharan Africa. We focus on improving access to healthcare and education for prisoners. We believe that access to medical care is paramount; even in countries where drugs and doctors may be in short supply, we believe that everyone is entitled to dignity in sickness and death. We promote formal education in prisons by supplying textbooks, computers and other educational aids. We also supply magazines and fiction to prisoners, as we believe that books are a powerful way of lifting prisoners above the bars, guns, guards and walls and reconnecting them with the world they are almost completely separated from.
Last February I visited about 25 prisons in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi to try to decide where to do our next projects. The two I visited in Harare (Harare Women’s and Harare Maximum) were the best prisons I’ve seen in Africa. They were well painted and had good medical facilities and decently stocked libraries. However, during my visits I was followed by secret police and was given few opportunities to speak to prisoners. However well organised the prison service is, and however well looked after the libraries and sick bays might be after we leave, we can’t do projects in places where we can’t mix freely with prisoners and learn about their needs. Many of the rural Malawian prisons I visited were without running water, in addition to the usual problems inmates face such as a lack of clothing, shoes, medicine and mattresses. In Malawi it’s not unusual for inmates to only receive three meals per week. In the end I decided that Zambian prisoners would gain the greatest benefit from our support. Theirs are the most overcrowded in Africa, at 300% of capacity. An eight by four metre cell might sleep 80 inmates; it’s not unusual for inmates to sleep in shifts, half rest whilst the others stand. Inmates in Zambia seem to have no access to inpatient medical treatment. Sick and dying prisoners are left in these overcrowded cells without so much as a mattress or paracetamol.
Projects in Uganda
Since August last year (I graduated in law from the University of Nottingham in July) we have been continuing with projects in Uganda’s prisons. To add to the three sick bays, two libraries and death row we have already rehabilitated,we began work on the infirmary at Kampala Remand Prison. This jail holds about one thousand inmates; they wait for trial for up to five years, often for crimes which only merit a year or two in prison, such as disorderly behaviour or loitering. Before we began work, inmates slept on the floor and were without running water and other basic requirements.
We are now refurbishing the 200-bed Murchison Bay Referral Hospital for prisoners, also in Kampala. This is designed to accommodate prisoners from all over Uganda who require advanced treatment. At the moment it has no running water, sporadic electricity and although it provides inmates with shelter it can do little else. Our work will be to install water and electricity supplies, as well as to refurbish wards, the operating theatre, treatment rooms and x-ray department. The alternative is for prisoners to go to government hospitals where they are handcuffed to the beds, even when dying, and usually receive little attention from medical staff.
All the money we raise goes directly to helping prisoners; we are all volunteers and cover our own expenses and never pay bribes. To ensure the money is not misspent we buy the materials and see that they are used as intended.
We are in the process of trying to take on an increased number of in-country volunteers. They help to keep up the momentum and continuity of our work. We have an increasing number of UK gap year students coming to work with us in Africa; they can contribute a great deal to our work and I believe it provides the volunteers with a useful education. We welcome anyone who wants to visit us and see first-hand what we do.
Alexander, who sits on the Nottingham bench, founded the project after visiting Uganda during his gap year. His work has been recognised by the 2007 Beacon Prize for Young Philanthropy and also top prize in the ‘Real World’ Graduate of the Year competition. To find out more about the project visit www.africanprisons.com.
Author Katharine McMahon JP on being inspired
I’m three months pregnant with my second child, I’m lying in the bath flicking through a soggy copy of Cosmopolitan and my eye is caught by the magical words: ‘child-minding expenses paid’, so I read on: ‘Do something different today... young women needed to become magistrates... no experience of the law required.’
I found a babysitter for child number one and hot-footed to the nearest courthouse, sat in the public gallery and by the end of the morning was hooked. I suspect it was the ‘otherness’ of the proceedings that grabbed me: the ritual, the rapid turnover of cases as varied as a remand in custody for a sex offender to the crossing of a red traffic-light, and the mysterious ‘bench’ of three austere-looking individuals who disappeared through a secret door to discuss matters, exactly like actors leaving the stage.
A New World
Discovering that even someone like me – under 30 (then, sadly not now), left of centre politically, by profession a would-be author and trained teacher – could be a magistrate was a turning point. As a not-yet-published novelist and new mother I had felt sidelined and rather lonely (much of my correspondence with the outside world consisted of rejection slips); as a newly appointed magistrate I entered a very adult, very sociable world where all that was required of me was my judgment, willingness to listen and learn and the opportunity to get involved and speak my mind (poor West Herts bench).
Six novels later (published, thank heavens) under my belt I am still a magistrate. I can’t languish for long in front of a computer screen before I start to feel guilty and isolated – my social conscience is offended by the fact that I sit at a desk and make up stories – so back I plunge into court where different skills come into play. I never cease to be intrigued by what happens there, and by the varied roles offered me by the bench. Being a magistrate has given me not only a unique insight into my community, trained me to think clearly and reasonably (as opposed to emotionally and illogically, which I fear is how much of my creative thinking is done) but offered opportunities to manage and train others.
My books are undoubtedly enriched by my encounters with other people and their worlds. As a writer, I seem to have developed something of a theme for setting pioneering women against tumultuous historical backgrounds. My latest book is about a woman who goes missing during the Crimean War. On one level the story of two female cousins who become enmeshed in the unfolding horror of a foolhardy war seems light-years from my experience as a magistrate, but where did I learn what it would feel like for my heroine to be interviewed for a world in which she feels entirely unqualified (she tries to become one of Miss Nightingale’s nurses); to be confronted by the intransigence of a grindingly inefficient institution run by well-meaning individuals (I am talking about the War Office in 1854, of course); to be a tiny cog in a machine in which so many individuals are lost or suffering? As a magistrate, like it or not, I am part of the establishment, and I understand the burden of responsibility, and sometimes guilt, borne by those who make decisions on behalf of others.
Drawn to the Law
And now, at last, in my next book I have decided to tackle the law itself as a subject for my fiction. I was astonished to discover that the first woman lawyer didn’t practise in this country until 1922. I imagine her in the murky depths of some chilly magistrates’ court, putting up with the jibes of her male colleagues, determined to make a difference. And the experience of writing this new book reflects my own first tentative advances towards the magistracy. I was fascinated and intimidated by the law, the mysteries contained within a profession for which I was not trained, the interplay between the lay and professional judiciary and legal advisers, and the dramas that take place every day in our courts.
I still love being a magistrate. I never cease to be challenged and often moved by what happens in court, by the changes in the criminal justice system, by the need to keep the magistracy relevant to our society. And as an antidote to the trials of the author’s life – not least the sheer incipient battiness – the magistracy has no equal.
Katharine McMahon sits in West Herts. Her new novel, The Rose of Sebastopol, is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.Tuesday
Booked to sit on a three day final care order hearing, Tues, Wed, Thurs. It is the sixth Final hearing date which is quite outrageous in itself and two years since the local authority took protective measures.
Spent all day Sunday reading case papers.
Matter agreed at last moment with Supervision Orders and Residence Orders made, regarding the three full sibling children, within the family.
Matters also dealt with: two Rule 28 renewal of Interim Care Orders where one of parties consent had not been obtained, parents had gone awol. Court agrees the renewal to maintain the status quo
Then presented with papers for an abandoned baby case for final Care Order and Placement for half a day on Thursday. The baby was born with neonatal drug withdrawal and has severe health problems and possible developmental delay, likely because of mother drug use during pregnancy. No one had Parental Responsibility for this baby until June this year, when the baby was 6 months old, again outrageous.
In both cases I don't think the children have been prejudiced as the Children in the 3 day hearing stayed within the family and were never taken into Care, and the likelihood, in the abandoned baby case, is that the foster carers, who had regular contact with the baby from 8 weeks and lived with them after discharge from hospital, will adopt the child.
It has been a bad week so far, as regards the local authority conduct of the cases and the Courts case management.
Wednesday
Collect papers today for case for Thursday.
Today set aside for reading.
Thursday
Abandoned baby case. As expected all attempts to trace the parents over 6 month period have failed. The local authority and Child’s (legal) Guardian agree the making of Care and Placement Orders and the bench adopt the reasons drafted jointly by them. Best possible outcome for the baby that the adoption panel have selected the foster carers as possible adopters. Their application can now be processed.
Nothing lost, time-wise as a child with foster carers has to live in the foster placement for one year before the adoption application can be considered.
Afternoon case: a private law application by a father for contact with his teenage son. Mother has not complied with the terms of an interim contact order. Mother has not made herself nor her son available for interview with the Children and Families Court Advisory and Support Service officer for the purpose of making a report to the court through which the son’s wishes and feelings would be related t o the court. Son lived with father for a long period over the summer but has not seen his son for over a month, mother is no longer at the given address and after one mobile call to his son, the line has been disconnected.
The court took measures to try to obtain mothers address so that papers can be served on her, as a first step. Matter adjourned for a month. An application by father to transfer the case to a higher court for enforcement was not pursued at this stage. The father feels very frustrated that nothing more can be done more quickly. He just wants to see his son.
Further Rule 28 renewals made by the Court.
A London Family magistrate
I find that in youth court business usually starts on time perhaps it is the desire on all parties not to keep children and their parents waiting. This Thursday at Sittingbourne the Youth Court was so typical of almost every Thursday when we deal with youths.
It started with a young girl from the local children’s home. She was only 15 and was found in the High Street at 10.00 at night very drunk and being abusive to all passers-by. By now she was very contrite and looking at her she appeared so young and vulnerable. The annoying thing was that she was accompanied by a worker from the Care Home who knew virtually nothing about her and it was only through the intervention of the YOT Court Officer that we were told a few further details principally that she was already subject to a Supervision Order. We agreed on an adjournment and a full report about progress on this order and suggestions about sentencing from YOT. We made it clear that when we came to sentencing we needed to see a responsible social worker to look at the girls care plan.
The next new case involved a fight between two 16-year-old boys in the playground of the local secondary school. No real injuries just a few bruises and hurt pride. In the past we would have never seen this type of crime in court with the school dealing with it using their discipline procedures. The defendant was the instigator of the fight and pleaded guilty and it was his first time in court. He came in with Mum and Dad who had already punished him by stopping him going to a pop concert with friends. This is always a good sign but our hands are tied and we have to give a minimum 3-month Referral Order. Such a waste of resources as a straight conditional discharge would have been just as effective for very little cost.
Next in was a young man who although big was only 15, what do they feed them on now days! He had pleaded guilty to an offence of robbery some 4 weeks ago and was subject to a full report. The Bench agreed to go out and read the report, this served the dual purpose of allowing our Clerk to catch up on paperwork and also defence solicitors to talk to the prosecution. The report painted a sad picture of a young man in a large family with just Mum trying to hold things together. Sadly she was not in court, a worrying trend now days. We could have adjourned to get her there but pressure was on us as the defendant was a PYO. On top of this robbery the report told us that the youngsters had become dependant on cannabis which had not only led him into a life of crime but also exclusion from school. The recommendation was for an ISSP. This was accepted by the Bench and was followed by a few words of wisdom in the court by yours truly. Hopefully it will at least help to reduce the level and seriousness of offences committed by this PYO offender.
These cases are a typical selection from the whole day. Most of what we see is fairly minor although sometimes-serious cases have to be decided. It is with these cases that we would have to make the heart-searching decision of custody or community penalty. This is not made easy by a lack of decent robust community programmes.
A Kent magistrate
In the trial court
Arrived in court today to find that I was going to hear a trial, allocated three hours of court time, where the defendant was male, 23 and accused of actual bodily harm.
Sitting with me was a new magistrate – sitting for the first time having completed her basic training, and her mentor. Today we, the bench of three, are mixed in gender, ethnicity, experience and age and are all in full time employment.
We go into court at 10 am, the usher calls on the case. Goodness the defendant is there but alas his representative is not; there is a message – he is running late and should be at court at 10.15. Irritated, we retire as there is no other work that we can get on with. Just time for a quick coffee then back into court at 10.15; the defence has indeed turned up looking very flustered and he apologises, signal failure on the train – can he have 5 minutes to take instructions as this is the first time he’s met the defendant.
Reluctantly we all troop out again – time for the new magistrate to ask a couple of questions. Finally at 10.30 the trial gets underway. Essentially we have heard the facts in various forms many times before – group of lads, out celebrating after the local football team has won, drunk, abusive, in a group, fight breaks out after closing time, police and paramedics are called to the scene, in the fracas one of the paramedics gets a black eye. One by one we hear the evidence, first for the prosecution including the victim, and then two witnesses, including the defendant, for the defence. There are two very good independent witnesses for the prosecution, neither know each other or anyone involved; they both give very clear accounts. One of the bar staff also saw most of what had gone on but did not see the actual blow take place. The defence witnesses give muddled stories, changing the order of events when cross examined.
Having spent two hours listening to the evidence and taking notes, the defence sums up the case. We retire. We weigh up the evidence, decide which witnesses we believe are telling the truth and why; after discussion, we all find him guilty. Back into court to announce the verdict. Now to decide how to punish him. Out come the sentencing guidelines for ABH - actual bodily harm (guidelines for first time offender pleading not guilty) – starting point consider custody. We work our way through the case, looking for factors that make it more serious or less serious. Plenty here to aggravate matters – victim is a public servant at work, it’s a group action and the injury caused the paramedic a lot of pain. What about the risk –it was in a public place with lots of other people around who could have been injured. Now to the defendant – he has been in trouble once before – criminal damage 6 years ago, he was given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay £56 compensation. He’s now employed as a fork lift truck driver – had the job for 2 years, lives with his girlfriend and has a baby of 18 months. He says he is really sorry, he was drunk and out of control. His defence says that he has learnt his lesson, that his girlfriend had threatened to leave him unless he changed his drinking habits. We decided that it was likely that we would order a high tariff community sentence but before doing that would need to have more information from the probation service. So just before 1 pm we adjourn the case for a few days ordering a stand down report to be made – all options open. He leaves the court, knowing he has been found guilty but not knowing whether or not he will be jailed.
He’ll be back in a few days and another bench will hear the facts and have more information about him and they’ll decide what will happen. The new magistrate says – Who’d be a paramedic when they have to put up with being treated like that?
A South West London magistrate
Today in Court
I chaired Court One today for a change – the usual mix of remands, committals and sentencing. Maybe it’s a sign of things to come but we actually got started at 10:00 with the first case ready to proceed with all the personnel and papers in court – very unusual. This meant we got through the custody cases well before lunch, without a break for coffee!
A domestic burglary was sent on its way to Crown Court as well as a particularly sad false passport case. I sometimes wonder about these, the offence is clear but the intent is often less so. Even for a hardened JP, some histories can be quite distressing.
CPS were a bit miffed that we gave unconditional bail in a contested theft in breach of trust case where the defendant had no history of non-compliance. Nor did they like the removal of the police bail reporting conditions in another case which, again, served absolutely no purpose.
The sentencing was the usual sort of stuff. Whether to imprison a first “drive while disqualified” - we didn’t: whether to imprison a couple of habitual shoplifters – we did, and they expected it. Two of us came back to sentence a nasty drink fuelled domestic violence case where we’d heard the trial and where there had been a struggle to get the assaulted party to court. Despite Probation’s attempt to persuade us that they could deal with the issues, we believed that people need to be protected from this kind of drunken thuggery and we gave him 6 months. People worry that drugs are at the heart of criminality and they may be right as far as acquisitive crime is concerned but I’m more worried about our inability as a nation to enjoy a drink without it leading to crime and violence in the home or on the streets.
I got home by 4:30 which was more than could be said for some of our “customers” and for our colleagues in Court 2 where they suffered the usual vagaries of a trial court. 3 trials were listed. 2 had cracked by mid morning and 1 went ahead, but late. If we had adopted the single listing so desired by CPS and police to make their job easier, this would have been yet another day wasted with trial lead times stretching out into the far distance. As it happened, the cracked trials were so predictable – one went guilty when all the witnesses turned up and the other went guilty to a reduced charge on the day … and the courts get vilified for being inefficient!
A Greater Manchester magistrate
Adult court
In court this morning (for all the right reasons). Into the courtroom promptly at 10am after a short briefing from our legal adviser. He gives us the low down on any potential problems with the morning’s business. My colleagues this morning are a tax inspector and a retired college lecturer (I’m a vet). Wiltshire is one of the safest counties to live in but a day in court can often throw up some serious and nasty stuff. Cases range from stupid acts committed by the ‘mad and sad’, violent behaviour mostly related to drink, antisocial and offensive behaviour – in which you might include many motoring offences, minor thefts which are mainly to feed a drug habit and a relatively small number, probably surprisingly small, of more serious criminal activities where the offence is premeditated and planned. First today we have a young man who got blind drunk and then assaulted a police officer when he was carted off to the police station. It comes as a surprise to him, it seems, when he is warned that the starting point for consideration of the offence of assault on a PC is prison. So he takes advantage of our strong suggestion that he should take the opportunity to see the duty solicitor before we proceed. Next up, an excess alcohol (drunk driving in normal language). A remorseful young man who has no previous record of any kind. Nothing in the case to make it more serious than standard so we deal with it according to the book. That means a high fine, based on his income, for this level of alcohol - but reduced by a third because he put in his guilty plea as soon as possible. At a higher level it would mean a community sentence or possibly prison. He also gets an 18 month driving ban which is based on how far he was over the limit. A couple of other driving offences follow, dealt with in like manner more or less and then a middle aged man caught in a bar in possession of some amphetamine powder. His solicitor says he takes it because it relieves the symptoms of a medical condition. We actually believe him. He gets a conditional discharge and is ordered to pay a contribution to costs. The next two cases, both domestic violence and similar injuries in both cases (but both very different in respect of the background to the offences) are put off for reports from the probation service. In this county we see cases being turned round pretty quickly and we expect to see these two again in three weeks for sentence. No career criminals today (and not a single ‘not guilty’ plea in the day’s business) but a good number of cases dealt with at their first hearing and positive action on the others to bring them to a conclusion. Quite a satisfying day’s work – if you see what I mean.
A Wiltshire magistrate
Ray Spiller JP describes his training for chairmanship
The process began way back in 2005 when I was invited to attend the ’introduction to chairmanship part one’. This eight-hour day began with seven of us attending the introduction in our home court. This included watching the chairman in action from the well of the court for 90 minutes – a little surprising as we had all been on the bench for a few years and sat with virtually all the chairmen. However, it was interesting to see what goes on when the bench retired, as we all remained in court. The advocates seemed like old chums and several people were talking as if they were in the local pub – including the defendant chatting to his mates!
After lunch came the usual case scenarios – don’t we all love these?! At the end of the day the seven of us chatted briefly to see how many would be keen to take this further. Of the seven, just two decided they would like to attend the next part.
And so three months later came part two – a full day’s training with magistrates from all over Essex. The day included each of us in the ‘chair’ while being filmed: hair straight, no smiling, all rise… action…
Next steps
A report by a legal adviser was submitted to each bench’s training and development committee (BTDC), with an interview before the committee for a ‘question and answer’ session. This was to take place at a BTDC meeting one evening. My colleague went first at around 8.30pm; three cups of coffee later and I was called in with the clock approaching 10pm! It’s not easy being interviewed after a day’s work in your ordinary job and after leaving after 10.30 I thought, ‘well I made a right hash of that’.
Some weeks went past before it was decided that we were both approved to take six supervised sittings over the summer. These were spread over four months and reports on each supervised sitting would be compiled and sent for approval. In November 2006 the BTDC would make its final decision whether to put us forward for the basic chairmanship conference in March 2007. Some two months later we were informed that we would be appraised on six occasions ‘before the end of October 2007’. The BTDC will meet in November 2007 and will decide on the basis of the appraisal reports whether to include our names on the approved court chairman list for January 2008.
Nothing but nothing prepares you for the moment when you walk in to take the chair and say ‘good morning’ to a packed court. My first appraisal included a woman screaming blue murder at the back of the court and a defendant disputing in very loud terms whether the clerk’s parents were married at the time of her birth – if you get my drift.
Subsequent appraisals followed with two-three weeks between each one. Fortunately, speaking in public holds no fears for me as it is something I do for a living, but in my job I am able to ad-lib – in court no ad-libbing is allowed and the script must be followed word for word. Sometimes I do feel as though the chairman is almost expected to be a robot and no human errors are allowed. At the end of the day we are ALL volunteers giving up an enormous amount of our time to do a job that we get little thanks for. Even highly paid news readers on television get a few words muddled up, and how often do we see ‘out-takes’ on television where a famous personality has to say a few lines over and over again to get it right? Legal advisors please note!
Final appraisal
My final appraisal is now just days away. I have given it my best and have taken on board everything that has been drummed into me over the last 36 months. If the powers-that-be consider me good enough then I look forward to taking the chair in the months to come. If I am not good enough then I’ll sit back on the wing with the comfort of knowing at least I tried.
As a final thought, if the training programme was made shorter I feel sure other wingers would be prepared to take up the challenge of chairmanship, but as it stands now I hear from colleagues that many are not prepared to go through three years, six supervised sittings and then six appraisals.
Ray Spiller JP sits in Basildon.