I've been a magistrate for thirty years. Here's what it will actually take to fix our courts

Having been a magistrate since 1994, I have seen the harm caused by court closures, crumbling buildings, and more than a decade of neglect and underinvestment. In the crown courts especially, victims, witnesses and defendants are waiting years for their cases to be heard, causing real stress and anguish for thousands of people, who all deserve their day in court.

As detailed in Sir Brian Leveson’s Independent Review of the Criminal Courts and the government's subsequent response, magistrates’ courts can play a key role in reducing court backlogs and ensuring justice is served. Currently, over ninety per cent of all criminal cases are heard by magistrates; government plans to extend magistrates’ sentencing range from 12 to 18 months will ensure that even more cases can be heard in these courts, taking pressure off the huge backlog of the most serious cases in the crown courts.

Much of the conversation on reform has revolved around the government’s proposal to almost halve the number of jury trials. This is unsurprising. Public involvement in justice is a key pillar of our criminal justice system, and it is right that, in the most serious cases, a defendant should be tried before a jury of their peers. It is worth remembering, however, that magistrates are also ordinary members of the public who volunteer their time to hear cases. There are currently around 14,600 magistrates in England and Wales. The most diverse part of the judiciary, the magistracy, reflects local communities.

I travel extensively around the country, meeting magistrates from all walks of life. One of our longest-serving magistrates in Cardiff is a self-employed window cleaner, another is a university lecturer, one I know well in Yorkshire is a physiotherapist, and there is a pub owner in London.

As magistrates, we see the need for court reform each and every time we sit in court, and we are ready and willing to step up and play our part. Justice Secretary David Lammy recently announced an additional £247 million funding for the crown and magistrates’ courts, to fund more ‘sitting days’ and enable the courts to operate at maximum capacity, as well as for vital repairs and digital upgrades to court buildings, including investment in new video infrastructure to expand online hearings. This is very welcome, but to deliver efficient justice, the government must also recruit more court staff – especially legal advisers – and pay them better, boost the probation service, and agree a long-term and strategic plan for the recruitment, retention and recognition of magistrates – so that people from all walks of life will want to volunteer as a magistrate, and will not be left out of pocket for doing so.

Speaking to Channel 4 News back in December, Courts Minister Sarah Sackman said that being a magistrate is “one of the finest ways that you can give back and deliver public service.” As a magistrate of more than thirty years, I wholeheartedly agree.

Our criminal courts are at a crisis point but magistrates have the opportunity to play a key role in ensuring justice is delivered for the thousands of people currently in crown court limbo.

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David Ford is National Chair of the Magistrates’ Association.

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