To deliver on the organisation’s influencing objectives, Magistrates’ Association spokespeople regularly talk to the media. Building on the widespread coverage we secured earlier this year, in the past three months we spoke to a range of print and online media about our new national leadership team and landmark report on the costs of volunteering as a magistrate, among other topics.
Our new National Chair, Mark Beattie JP, was interviewed by Catherine Baksi (The Times’ freelance legal journalist) and by Charles Hymas (the Daily Telegraph’s Home Affairs Editor) about his journey to the magistracy, the invaluable role that our members play in the judiciary, why magistrates need better recognition of their service, and his vision for the year ahead. He also provided a comment to the Daily Telegraph on the recent announcement that ministers are considering temporarily extending magistrates’ sentencing powers to two years.
Reinforcing our position as the primary opinion leader on issues facing the magistracy, our former National Chair, Bev Higgs JP, was quoted in a piece on court backlogs published by The Times, and our statement on the Single Justice Procedure was included in an Evening Standard article.
Media engagement is a key tool that we use to promote the magistracy and to raise awareness of the issues our members tell us matter most to them. So, we are delighted that our report on the costs of being a magistrate was featured in The Law Society Gazette, The Evening Standard, The Brief (The Times’ legal bulletin), Yahoo News, MSN News, among others, and that Bev was interviewed by Talk TV about its findings.
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