“Staff at Leeds magistrates court are facing disciplinary action for serious errors which resulted in hundreds of offenders escaping prosecution, the Ministry of Justice said today.”
The Guardian, 11th March 2008
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A senior police officer has criticised magistrates after they chose not to jail a man who beat up a police constable because the country’s prisons are too full.”
Daily Telegraph, 27th February 2008
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Magistrates reacted angrily yesterday to a call from the justice secretary, Jack Straw, to send fewer people to jail to ease pressure on prison places.”
The Guardian, 23rd February 2008
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A magistrate who carried out a £5,000 Tube ticket scam has been given a suspended sentence.”
BBC News, 12th Februrary 2008
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Violent crime committed by children and teenagers has gone up by a third in only three years, an investigation by The Sunday Telegraph revealed last week. Total offences climbed steadily from 184,474 in 2003 to 222,750 in 2006. Most of these are dealt with by overstretched youth courts in possession of limited sentencing powers. Patrick Sawer reports from the ‘frontline’ of youth justice, as magistrates, lawyers and officials struggle to cope with rising levels of youth crime.”
Daily Telegraph, 27th January 2008
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
McClintock v Department of Constitutional Affairs
Employment Appeal Tribunal
“To allow judges to opt out of hearing cases where they disapproved of the law would be an abdication of their responsibilities.”
The Times, 5th December 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
“Quarterly National Statistics release presenting results from a 1-week survey of criminal cases completed in the Magistrates’ courts. ”
Ministry of Justice, 23rd November 2007
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
“It is nine months since ‘Falconer’s Folly’ began its roll-out to all 360 magistrates’ courts in England and Wales. This scheme is more properly called ‘speedy justice’ – a system designed to hurry cases through the courts. A trial period in Thames, Camberwell, Coventry and West Cumbria proved that it did just that, according to some official statistics.”
The Times, 13th November 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“An ex-magistrate who says he was forced to resign because he would not place children for adoption with gay couples has lost his appeal.”
BBC News, 31st October 2007
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“A leading magistrate has said he feared his reputation was in tatters after losing a legal bid to sue his daughter-in-law over allegations he assaulted her.”
Daily Telegraph, 31st October 2007
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“A Christian magistrate was forced to resign because he refused to place children for adoption with gay couples, an employment appeal tribunal was told yesterday.”
The Times, 23rd October 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“A Christian magistrate who claims that he had to quit the bench because he objects to adoption by gay couples is taking the Government to court today.”
Daily Telegraph, 22nd October 2007
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Means testing in the magistrates’ courts was introduced on time and on budget and remains on course to deliver its projected annual savings of £35 million.”
Ministry of Justice press release, 2nd October 2007
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
“A magistrate is facing an inquiry after refusing to deal with a defendant wearing a full Muslim veil, the Judiciary of England and Wales said yesterday.”
Daily Telegraph, 2nd July 2007
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“The Government will this week spark a new war with the judiciary by stripping England and Wales’s 30,000 magistrates of powers to hand out suspended jail terms, in a fresh bid to ease the prisons crisis.”
The Observer, 24th June 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The trial next week of a Court of Appeal judge accused of flashing will be heard by a rare panel of a judge sitting with two magistrates because of the sensitivity of the case.”
The Times, 9th June 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“Anyone up before a magistrates’ court can now go online to find out the likely sentence for the alleged offence in advance of the hearing.”
The Times, 30th May 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“Magistrates’ decisions are made on the basis of stereotypes, and ignore advice from experts, research says.”
The Times, 15th May 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“Three senior magistrates have resigned over surcharges on fines for offenders in what could be the start of a wave of revolts against the scheme. Other magistrates are angry about the Home Office-inspired initiative, which they say interferes with their discretion to make the punishment fit the crime and turns them into unofficial tax collectors.”
The Guardian, 16th April 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
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