Lunchtime Meeting - 12.45pm - Speaker William Garnett

Bill became interested in the work of the magistracy in about 1985 but couldn't actually become a magistrate until 2009 due to his work commitments.

After his application to be considered in 2007, the process of appointment took about 18 months.

Bill has since become a "chair" on the bench, that is the person in the middle, sitting in the Chester Magistrates Court and occasionally in the Crown Court.  He is also on the Chester Advisory Committee, chaired by the Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire which, on behalf of the Lord Chancellor, is responsible for several functions including the recruitment and selection of magistrates and conduct issues relating to serving magistrates.

With a thorough run through of the history and development of the Magistrates Court system since Justices of the Peace were created in 1361 to guard the sovereign's peace, Bill told us of the type of work that is dealt with in their courts as it is more than the place where all criminal proceedings start.  In addition,  environment, wildlife crime and fine enforcement are becoming more common.  Magistrates also issue search warrants, witness documents and hear statutory declarations   In fact, 95% of all cases stay in and are dealt with in the Magistrates Court.

As a magistrate, Bill is not a professional lawyer, he is unpaid and takes the Judicial Oath (below) he swore when he became a magistrate very seriously.  He is passionately convinced that our system is brilliant and stands up to comparison with legal systems anywhere else in the world where people may not to be so confident of receiving a fair trial.

Judicial Oath

    I, (name), do swear by Almighty God that I will well and truly serve our Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth in the office of (office), and I will do right to all manner of people after the laws and usages of this realm (or colony), without fear or favour, affection or ill will.

Bill now also works towards the project 'Magistrates in the Community', a Magistrates’ Association initiative that has developed over the past 20 years to increase public awareness of the role of magistrates in the criminal and civil justice system.

Teams of magistrates are willing to attend primary, secondary, 6th form colleges, schools, community groups (such as ourselves) and employers etc to give a presentation and discuss:

        How magistrates are appointed
        What kind of cases they deal with
        How guilt or innocence is decided
        How magistrates decide to sentence

etc.  He hopes that by doing this, the community will understand a little more about how it works, how valuable it is and why it needs to be protected.

Interested in becoming a magistrate?  Since the 1979 Justice of the Peace Act, magistrates are no longer appointed by invitation, instead you can apply to become a magistrate by reading the website below and downloading and filling in the application form here.

Become a magistrate - GOV.UK

An excellent talk well presented!