18/06/2025
Clive Hammond
There remains a huge crisis in recruiting and retaining magistrates. Here, David Ford, the deputy national chair of the Magistrates' Association (MA), tells Police Oracle about why it's so difficult to keep hold of volunteers to deliver justice, and what changes are needed to redirect this worrying tide.
This month, the MA delivered a concerning report which laid bare the seismic challenges facing the justice system in bringing in and keeping hold of magistrates, particularly focusing on drawing in new members from every corner of life.
Magistrates matter: A plan to ensure magistrates are valued, appreciated, and recognised revealed that magistrates across England and Wales were becoming increasingly frustrated, with many considering resigning as a result of a lack of support and recognition they say they deserve for carrying out a vital, unpaid post.
Considering the lengths of time – not to mention money – it takes constabularies and the Crown Prosecution Service to finally get cases in front of those in the justice system, serious backlogs in securing magistrates are adding to an already rising stack of unheard cases.
Yet, for the likes of Mr Ford – who spoke to Police Oracle this week – there could be simple changes that are made to help bandage up a wounded system.
“We’d like everybody to appreciate what magistrates do and be recognised by society as such,” Mr Ford said.
“We have people, for example, like Lady Chief Justice, who is a terrific support to us. But that doesn’t help Joe Public, and it doesn’t help the individual magistrate in getting recognition.
“Even now, if somebody does know you’re a magistrate down the pub, they think you must be earning a fortune to be doing that… so in 10, 20 or 30 years’ time, I’d like people in society to recognise what magistrates do and how much they contribute.”
He suggested that, perhaps, even something as simple as a medal that can be worn in public would offer some type of symbolism for the work they do.
“Most of our society doesn’t appreciate what we do,” Mr Ford noted. “And we just want signs that people can easily identify with.
“You work on the lifeboats, for example, and straight away you are recognised and you understand how important a volunteer is there. But that’s not the same view of a magistrate.”
Within the report, seven recommendations are made to help strengthen magistrate morale, which would hopefully then increase the number and diversity of magistrates and avoid resignations.
It follows in the footsteps of a 2022 report by the MA – titled ‘It shouldn’t cost to volunteer’ – which surveyed 1,400 sitting magistrates to address these challenges, drawing on established best practice in volunteer management.
The report calls for a fundamental shift in the magistrates’ relationship with the justice system and says that a multi-year recruitment and retention strategy is essential to attract, train, support and retain magistrates while ensuring a structured transition for magistrates upon their retirement.
As well as taking a hit when it comes to potentially losing income from a magistrate’s primary job, behind the scenes, the expectations on what one has to do remain chunky.
Papers, sitting, note-taking, filing, listening, reading, deliberating. For many, many hours.
“The pressures of sitting can’t be underestimated,” Mr Ford continued. “I’ve always said that it’s harder to sit emotionally and physically in the courtroom all day. It takes a lot out of you than in working a day’s work.”
He added: “And we are finding we’re losing magistrates from that point of view. I think it’s from the personal point of view, for individual magistrates, it can be more difficult than it was because life is such a faster pace than it used to be years ago.
“And from the employers, they might ask themselves: what benefit do we have of losing a key employee for one day a fortnight, particularly if we’re not a big organisation? Do we have to pay that individual? We may choose what we want to, and then we’ve got to look at the budget. Can we afford to?”
The emotional content is also another avenue that has led some to consider whether getting involved with becoming a magistrate is worth it.
Among the most challenging cases to be heard are within the youth court, where Mr Ford recalled regularly seeing family life played out between solicitors, a child’s future about to be rerouted from its current path.
“I can honestly say I get a lump in my throat quite often,” the deputy chair said. “You hear these cases and they are so, so sad. It’s circumstances in youth court, particularly, where we’re looking to prevent people reoffending over and above straight punishment.
“You know that that’s very much secondary. You’ve got parents and grandparents supporting a child who has maybe done everything they could, but peer groups have led them down the wrong path.
“When you’ve got parents and grandparents in tears in your courtroom, they’re so upset, and it’s emotionally difficult.”
To combat this, the MA has set up its own support line for member magistrates to call in they’ve got a particular concern or something has upset them.
But, with the emotional turmoil and financial challenges facing those looking to seal their spot on the bench, why do people still get involved?
It is hoped that alongside the recommendation of magistrates being recognised for their civic contributions – Mr Ford points out that magistrates are the only major public service volunteers without a long service medal – that a Magistrates’ Volunteer Charter, aiming to outline roles and expectations, but also tracking morale and concerns, could help shift the direction of where the MA currently sees the system taking it.