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Select committee: Justice Committee

The role of the magistracy – follow up inquiry

Closed Opened 20 Nov 2018 Closed 5 Nov 2019

Justice Committee Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗

Inquiry scope (the committee's words)
The aim of this session is to allow the Committee to gain a broad understanding of the main issues facing the magistracy and to establish what progress has been made since the previous Committee’s report published on 19 October 2016.

Where it stands

The inquiry is closed, opened 20 November 2018.

The committee has published 1 report, most recently 18th Report - The role of the magistracy: follow-up on 18 June 2019.

The government's response

Published 30 October 2019.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Government welcomes the Committee's report and says it will support the judiciary-led magistrates strategy rather than develop a separate Government strategy.

  • On recruitment, it is establishing a Magistrates Recruitment and Attraction Steering Group, jointly chaired by MoJ leaders and the Magistrates Leadership Executive, which it says will meet quarterly.
  • On expenses, it says the review, which includes the Financial Loss Allowance, is under way, and it expects it to conclude by Spring 2020.
  • On the retirement age, it is "positively considering" a change for all judicial office holders and "will consult publicly on this in due course". It notes that any change would need primary legislation.
  • On sentencing powers, it agrees that any extension needs "a clear evidence base" but says it is "unable to commit" to extending magistrates' custodial powers "at this stage". It intends to publish failure to appear statistics quarterly, starting in December 2019.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error

Reports

All reports

Evidence

  • 2 oral evidence sessionsLatest 12 February 2019
All evidence

Recent activity

Reports

1 report

Oral evidence sessions

2 sessions

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Date Session and witnesses Source
12 Feb 2019
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded 		View ↗
27 Nov 2018
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded 		View ↗