What do you think of Magistrates?? Just interested?

steelwarrior

i think you know where i stand on this one LOL

Gone Fishing

i think it depends why they take the job on. If it's for a desire to serve the community that's fine, but if if to gain the opportunity to throw their weight around then it is a problem. Sadly not all magistrates are like Georgie's mum. There's one I can think of who really should't be in the job at all.

Hallie

Trip, Trip, Trip...are you trying to set her off on one again?

quornandwafflesagain

not qualified to perform a very serious and sometimes life changing task, should only be done by professionals. and no i don't have any experience of them thank goodness but if ever i did i would hope it would be somebody trained thouroughly.

usman.2491

Itâ€™s an unpaid job. All they get is a cheque to cover their travelling expenses!
They are, essentially, volunteers to society so be thankful!

And if you know magistrates that boast about their job then dislike them, not every magistrate because the judiciary relies on them.

Tufty Porcupine

An ex-colleague on mine was a magistrate and he didn't fit that description. He told me that they were trying to encourage people from a wider range of backgrounds to become magistrates, to be more reflective of society. Perhaps they need to look at how this can be done more effectively.

georgie

Hi.My mums a magistrate [JP] and as a retired school mistress she is well respected in the community.She is very educated and wouldnt dream of posting on yahoo answers..lol...good question trip.

zeggy

My dad's a Magistrate, he's also a civilian pilot that trains the Military. He's been a pilot since the 70's (RAF), flying Vulcans, fought in the Falklands War, lived in Saudi Arabia for 10 years training pilots, also was in the Gulf War (91). He is continually going on courses and loves his job as a Magistrate. He has always had a strong interest in law and Politics. I know this is your personal opinion, but my Dad is not uneducated, he is extremely intelligent and did not become a Magistrate to be a Social climber but to pursue his interest in this area. I suppose in your area of work you see people becoming magistrates for the reasons you are stating, but they are not all like it. I'm proud of my dad for what he has achieved in his life.

Happy Murcia

One would assume they need more training, although anybody can apply to become one, i do know someone who was a magistrate and was a right tearaway when he was younger.
A Magistrate is the preciding individual in court who can hand out judgements and in my eyes should have alot more training in Law...

Dellboy from UK

Surely being a magistrate is not a profession. Anyone can become one.
They give up lots of time to perform their duties and are often frustrated by stupid rules and regulations which do not allow them to impose appropriate sentences.
I would like to see magistrates free to impose much tougher sentences on the sniggering louts who appear before them.,

Barbiq

They should have more than four weeks of legal training. It would be a good position for lawyers to rotate through during their years of law practice.....you know like community service, every lawyer in practice, defensive, prosecutors etc. should serve as Magistrate for one month every 5 years. This would ensure that a person with appropriate schooling is in the position and keeps the position from becoming subject to corruption (in theory).

Bardic

At least they come from the real world, not the rarefied, over-qualified, over-paid "professionals". What they have to do is apply common sense, for which there can be no training. It's only the legal technicalities that the Clerk has to advise them on.

#+%?

Don't get dressd up for a visit, they'll only send you away for longer. Just dress in your usual work clothes.

malroymck

Let them be the judge of theis question.

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