UK Law Articles
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Lord Chancellor's Department
Press Notice
25 October 1999
LORD CHANCELLOR CONTINUES SEARCH FOR ALTERNATIVES TO POLITICAL BALANCE IN LAY MAGISTRACY
Plans to end the current political balance of lay magistrates have
been put on hold temporarily, pending further research on alternative
models for ensuring magistrates come from a wide range of
backgrounds.
"I remain committed to finding an alternative to political balance as
a measure of social background", said the Lord Chancellor, Lord
Irvine, "but I have reluctantly concluded that for now it remains the
most practicable measure. I have asked my officials to look at other
options for the future."
The Lord Chancellor had issued a consultation paper last October,
questioning whether political affiliation was still relevant in
getting a proper social balance amongst lay magistrates.
The paper sought views on whether a 'geo-demographic' system should
be adopted in its place. This system uses data from the 1991 census
to classify people in social groups defined by characteristics such
as age, sex, home ownership, car ownership and ethnic groups.
However, whilst 45% of consultation respondents supported the removal
of political affiliation as a balancing mechanism, only 13% were in
favour of its being replaced by a geo-demographic system. Additional
research reinforced these concerns, by highlighting that such systems
were:
difficult to apply;
difficult to explain and understand; and
expensive and cumbersome to operate.
The Lord Chancellor said "I said at the outset of this exercise that
this is a listening Government, and we have no intention of imposing
a new system which has as many question marks against it as the
system it would replace.
"Public confidence in the lay magistracy is vital. This is achieved,
first and foremost, by individual magistrates discharging their
duties effectively. It is also achieved when benches reflect the
diversity of the communities which they serve."
Officials will now be examining a new approach which involves looking
at occupational categories, to be used alongside factors such as age,
sex and regional spread.
In the meantime, the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committees (which
undertake the initial recruitment of lay magistrates) will continue
to be asked to ensure the voting pattern for their area, as shown in
the last two general elections, is broadly reflected in the
composition of their bench.
