For the new Lord Chancellor - Some causes for concern about magistrates

Criminal Law Review

Volumn 1997, Issue 12, 1997, Pages 861-873

  Darbyshire, Penny ^a  

^a Kingston Law School ^*

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EID: 0031526942     PISSN: 0011135X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (89)

1. For commenting on an earlier version of this article, I thank those acknowleged in its companion, "An Essay on the Importance and Neglect of the Magistracy" [1997] Crim.L.R. 627 (henceforth, Neglect). For helping me understand the quantum of proof, I thank Gregory Durston and Professors Colin Tapper and Geoffrey Bennett. I thank members of the Home Office and LCD for warmly receiving and reading an earlier draft of both articles.
2. The latest jury beatification from the Bar comes from Bruce Houlder Q.C., cited in Neglect, at p.642. Previous examples of jury rhetoric are criticised in Darbyshire [1991] Crim.L.R. 740.
3. The latest jury beatification from the Bar comes from Bruce Houlder Q.C., cited in Neglect, at p.642. Previous examples of jury rhetoric are criticised in Darbyshire [1991] Crim.L.R. 740.
4. e.g. Lord Hailsham, 1984, cited by Gifford, Where's the Justice? (1984), p.36, and Lord Mackay, The Magistrate, Dec. 1994-Jan. 1995, p. 196.
5. e.g. Lord Hailsham, 1984, cited by Gifford, Where's the Justice? (1984), p.36, and Lord Mackay, The Magistrate, Dec. 1994-Jan. 1995, p. 196.
6. Sir William Blackstone, Commentaries (13th ed., 1800), Book III, pp.378-379.
7. Book IV (1st ed., 1769), pp.278-279.
8. At pp.207-209.
9. (1984), p.37.
10. Under examination by the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee: Third Report, 1995-1996, cited below, Volume II (hereinafter JAP II), para. 611.
11. The history of political thought on the magistracy, especially their role in civil disorder, is discussed by R. Vogler in Reading the Riot Act (1991) and in C. Sumner (ed.), Censure, Politics and Criminal Justice (1990).
12. The history of political thought on the magistracy, especially their role in civil disorder, is discussed by R. Vogler in Reading the Riot Act (1991) and in C. Sumner (ed.), Censure, Politics and Criminal Justice (1990).
13. Gifford, op. cit., at p.38; editorial [1997] N.L.J. 245.
14. Gifford, op. cit., at p.38; editorial [1997] N.L.J. 245.
15. JAP II, Magistrates' Association, p.241, para. 2.4.3, from E. Burney, J.P.: Magistrate, Court & Community (1979).
16. JAP II, Magistrates' Association, p.241, para. 2.4.3, from E. Burney, J.P.: Magistrate, Court & Community (1979).
17. HMSO, The Distribution of Criminal Business between the Crown Court and Magistrates' Courts, Cmnd. 6323, p.18, para. 36.
18. At pp.142-143.
19. Defendants in the Criminal Process (1976), p.89. For a review of research into mode of trial preference, see A. Ashworth, The English Criminal Process (1994), Chap. 8.
20. Defendants in the Criminal Process (1976), p.89. For a review of research into mode of trial preference, see A. Ashworth, The English Criminal Process (1994), Chap. 8.
21. Triable-either-way Cases: Crown Court or Magistrates' Court? Home Office Research Study 98.
22. Magistrates' Court or Crown Court? Mode of Trial Decisions and Sentencing, Home Office Research Study 125.
23. See discussion by J. Vennard in Contested Trials in Magistrates' Courts (1982), Home Office Research Study 71, pp.2-3. These studies are cited as demonstrating the rationality of defendants' beliefs in the higher acquittal rate of the Crown Court by McConville, in "An Error of Judgment", in M. McConville and L. Bridges, Criminal Justice in Crisis (1994), p.24 at 25.
24. See discussion by J. Vennard in Contested Trials in Magistrates' Courts (1982), Home Office Research Study 71, pp.2-3. These studies are cited as demonstrating the rationality of defendants' beliefs in the higher acquittal rate of the Crown Court by McConville, in "An Error of Judgment", in M. McConville and L. Bridges, Criminal Justice in Crisis (1994), p.24 at 25.
25. Expained in Neglect.
26. "Trial by Jury and Alternative Modes of Trial" in Criminal Justice in Crisis, op. cit., p.255 at 261; McConville, same book, at p.25; Bridges and McConville, p.10; Ashworth [1993] Crim.L.R. 830 at 833. In 1981, King said in The Framework of Criminal Justice that "few other English institutions have been subjected to so much adverse criticism over the past 25 years as have the magistrates' courts" (p.5).
27. "Trial by Jury and Alternative Modes of Trial" in Criminal Justice in Crisis, op. cit., p.255 at 261; McConville, same book, at p.25; Bridges and McConville, p.10; Ashworth [1993] Crim.L.R. 830 at 833. In 1981, King said in The Framework of Criminal Justice that "few other English institutions have been subjected to so much adverse criticism over the past 25 years as have the magistrates' courts" (p.5).
28. "Trial by Jury and Alternative Modes of Trial" in Criminal Justice in Crisis, op. cit., p.255 at 261; McConville, same book, at p.25; Bridges and McConville, p.10; Ashworth [1993] Crim.L.R. 830 at 833. In 1981, King said in The Framework of Criminal Justice that "few other English institutions have been subjected to so much adverse criticism over the past 25 years as have the magistrates' courts" (p.5).
29. 1984 AGM of the Magistrates' Association, cited in Gifford, op. cit., at p.36.
30. JAP II, para. 502.
31. LCD, Directions for Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace (1991, 1992), para. 4.2 and further explained in JAP II, Appendix 1, paras 3.3-3.4 and by Lord Mackay, at paras 441-523.
32. I use Bench to denote the entire group of magistrates and bench for the group in court. My comments are based on widespread observations. See [1997] Crim.L.R. 105.
33. Home Office Research and Statistics Department, Digest 3: Information on the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales, 1995, p.66.
34. JAP II, Appendix 1, para. 3.4.4.
35. Black Magistrates (1985).
36. M. Fitzgerald and C. Hale, Ethnic Minorities: victimisation and racial harassment, Home Office Research Study 154 (1996).
37. The Committee found that about 17 per cent of magistrates appointed in Greater London in 1994 were minority.
38. Sentencing Principles and Magistrates' Sentencing Behaviour.
39. JAP II, pp.268-269 and paras 709-774.
40. paras 619; 719-724; 783.
41. S. Brown, Magistrates at Work, p.41.
42. Capon, JAP II, para. 828 and McCormac, para. 776.
43. JAP II, Appendix 2.
44. Mullin, para. 623 and see Appendix 2, p. 183. See similar evidence from Chesterfield, Vol. I, n. 419 and unpublished evidence from Cleveland and Berkshire cited therein.
45. R. Vogler, op. cit. (1990). Neglect, p.639.
46. Criminal Statistics 1995, Cm. 3421 (1996), p.89.
47. Thomson, JAP II, para. 635.
48. JAP II, p. 150.
49. JAP, Vol. I, para. 199.
50. JAP II, para. 872.
51. Ball is concerned over the aged profile of the youth panel. Seventy per cent of appointees in the previous five years were over 45 and 13 per cent over 55 (Young Offenders, p.44, cited in Neglect, based on her previous research and work in progress, 1997).
52. JAP II, p.240, at para. 2.4.3. Burney applied the epithet to the Bench itself.
53. LCD, Directions, op. cit., para. 2.15.
54. JAP II, para. 888, per Lord Kingsdown.
55. I suggest he then applies the same philosophy to magistrates' courts committees. Joe Hall gave evidence that half (that is, all the male) members of the Sunderland MCC, in 1995, were freemasons (para. 725).
56. op. cit., p.79.
57. JAP II, para. 666.
58. JAP II, para. 618.
59. JAP II, para. 860.
60. JAP II, para. 617.
61. Home Affairs Committee Third Report, Session 1996-1997, Freemasonry in the Police and the Judiciary, Vol. II (1997), p.173. The report and appendices tell us nothing of the present extent of freemasonry within the magistracy.
62. Some of these points are recognised blandly in two paragraphs of Access to Justice: Labour's proposals for reforming the civil justice system (1995), p.14. I am trying to spell out in more graphic detail how bad the problem is and what should be done about it.
63. Thomson, JAP II, para. 702.
64. Incidentally, Robertson was wrong to assert that the Bench is under representative of women. In 1997, gender numbers are almost equal. Of those sitting in court, any one-day snapshot would reveal a significant majority of women.
65. The Magistrate (1993), pp.136, 145, 178, 200; (1994), p.37.
66. The Magistrate (1993), pp.136, 145, 178, 200; (1994), p.37.
67. The Times, July 3, 1974.
68. Criminal Statistics 1995, pp.129-132.
69. [1991] Crim.L.R. 740 at 747.
70. Standing Accused (1994), p.221.
71. A. Ashworth, "Plea, Venue and Discontinuance" [1993] Crim.L.R. 830 at 833.
72. C. Tapper, Cross and Tapper on Evidence (8th ed., 1995), pp.158-160.
73. J. P. Levine, Juries and Policies (1992).
74. "Notes of a Lawyer Juror" [1990] N.L.J. 1264.
75. Vennard (1982) op. cit., n.17, examines the readiness of magistrates to accept police evidence and discusses previous arguments that this is so by Burney, Williams and Wootton (at 21). She draws the rather different conclusion that magistrates tend to accept prosecution eyewitness evidence against a straight denial by the defendant. She questions whether magistrates are sufficiently alive to research into the reliability of eye witness evidence. The authors of Standing Accused (1994) explore the same allegation and conclude that their research confirms that magistrates are pro-police and the onus of proof is on the defendant. Note, also, the quotation from ex p. Jowitt, above.
76. Letter to The Independent, October 4, 1996, cited by G. Durston, "Reconsidering the Standard of Proof in Criminal Cases" (1997) 160 J.P. 1096.
77. Letter to The Independent, October 4, 1996, cited by G. Durston, "Reconsidering the Standard of Proof in Criminal Cases" (1997) 160 J.P. 1096.
78. Judicial Statistics; M. Zander and P. Henderson, Crown Court Study, Research Study No. 19, for the RCCJ (1993); Baldwin [1997] Crim.L.R. 536.
79. Judicial Statistics; M. Zander and P. Henderson, Crown Court Study, Research Study No. 19, for the RCCJ (1993); Baldwin [1997] Crim.L.R. 536.
80. Vennard (op. cit.) found that, of 394 contested charges, 21 were dismissed at the conclusion of the prosecution case but she does not say how many "no case" submissions were made.
81. The course is not running at the time of writing.
82. S. Uglow, Criminal Justice (1995), p.141, in a chapter replete with errors; C. Elliott and F. Quinn, English Legal System (1996); D. Cracknell, English Legal System Textbook (1995); G. Slapper and D. Kelly, English Legal System (1997), p.76. For an immaculate description see Smith and Bailey's The Modern English Legal System (1996), p.205.
83. S. Uglow, Criminal Justice (1995), p.141, in a chapter replete with errors; C. Elliott and F. Quinn, English Legal System (1996); D. Cracknell, English Legal System Textbook (1995); G. Slapper and D. Kelly, English Legal System (1997), p.76. For an immaculate description see Smith and Bailey's The Modern English Legal System (1996), p.205.
84. S. Uglow, Criminal Justice (1995), p.141, in a chapter replete with errors; C. Elliott and F. Quinn, English Legal System (1996); D. Cracknell, English Legal System Textbook (1995); G. Slapper and D. Kelly, English Legal System (1997), p.76. For an immaculate description see Smith and Bailey's The Modern English Legal System (1996), p.205.
85. S. Uglow, Criminal Justice (1995), p.141, in a chapter replete with errors; C. Elliott and F. Quinn, English Legal System (1996); D. Cracknell, English Legal System Textbook (1995); G. Slapper and D. Kelly, English Legal System (1997), p.76. For an immaculate description see Smith and Bailey's The Modern English Legal System (1996), p.205.
86. S. Uglow, Criminal Justice (1995), p.141, in a chapter replete with errors; C. Elliott and F. Quinn, English Legal System (1996); D. Cracknell, English Legal System Textbook (1995); G. Slapper and D. Kelly, English Legal System (1997), p.76. For an immaculate description see Smith and Bailey's The Modern English Legal System (1996), p.205.
87. JAP, Vol. I, para. 184.
88. op. cit., p.208.
89. See A. J. Turner, then a justices' clerk, in "Sentencing in the Magistrates' Court", in C. Munro and M. Wasik (eds), Sentencing, Judicial Discretion and Training (1992), p.198.