A key role of the Magistrates’ Association, as the independent voice of the magistracy, is to speak on issues of most concern to magistrates and to help inform people in positions of influence about the work that magistrates do.
In recent weeks, we have been doing just that—meeting with members of parliament and members of the House of Lords to build on the heightened interest in the magistracy as a result of the media coverage magistrates have received on issues from sentencing powers to the new recruitment campaign.
We held a meeting with Andy Carter MP, who is also a sitting magistrate, to discuss the recent paper, ‘Providing support to employed magistrates‘, which was produced by our young magistrates’ network on the issues affecting employed magistrates. We were pleased that this work was mentioned on the floor of the House of Commons.
We also met with James Cartlidge MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Justice, to discuss the extension of sentencing powers for magistrates, and are soon to meet with Alex Cunningham MP, Shadow Minister for Courts and Sentencing.
Tom Franklin, the MA’s Chief Executive, commented:
“It’s important that people in influential positions understand the role of the magistracy and the particular challenges that magistrates face. We’ve been reaching out to parliamentarians to help answer their questions. There are many in parliament—in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords—who have previous experience of being magistrates, and we can help to bring them up to date with issues; there are others who haven’t been involved where we can help to educate them on the magistracy. We’re planning to do more of this over the coming months.”
