The role requires no formal legal training and magistrates are supported by a qualified legal advisor in court. JPs are usually people with some life experience, though the common preconception that all magistrates are plus 'ladies who lunch' is wrong — we have heard of individuals becoming magistrates in their early thirties.
Becoming a JP is not a career path: people volunteer to be magistrates in the same way they might become school governors or volunteer for a community charity. Qualified lawyers can become magistrates, though individuals in some professions — like the police — cannot.
Magistrates are recruited by local advisory committees and vacancies are advertised online — check back regularly as vacancy lists are frequently updated and application windows are brief. In theory becoming a magistrate doesn't lead to any further judicial career — j udicial experience is not a prerequisite for gaining a fee-paid judicial role see below , but Magistrates' Court experience is certainly one way of gaining familiarity with court process.
Magistrates' Courts deal with criminal matters such as anti-social behaviour, vandalism, drugs offences, burglary, and motoring charges. More serious cases — robbery, murder, rape — do come before magistrates but are quickly passed up to the Crown Court. More experienced magistrates also deal with cases in the youth court involving defendants aged ten to 18 or with children's cases in the family court.
In addition, magistrates can sit with a legally qualified circuit judge in the Crown Court during appeals. More information about magistrates can be found on the judiciary website and gov. Also check out the website of the Magistrates Association , an independent body which represents the voice of magistrates.
If you're a qualified lawyer and seriously contemplating applying to be a judge, you can sign up for the Judicial Work Shadowing Scheme. This scheme is especially helpful if you are thinking of applying for a junior judicial position. Shadowing is open to barristers, solicitors, legal executives, patent attorneys, and trade mark attorneys who have at least seven years of post-qualification experience.
We have heard anecdotally that exceptions to this minimum requirement are sometimes made. Marshalling for a judge is a good experience to get if you are an aspiring barrister or solicitor. This scheme is not open to students but there are other schemes which are, and marshalling for a judge is a good experience to get if you are an aspiring barrister or solicitor.
Contact courts directly to organise this or ask your Inn. There are two types of district judge DJ : those who sit in the County Court and deal with civil matters, and those who sit in the Magistrates' Court — known as district judge Magistrates' Court — who deal with criminal matters. Unlike magistrates, DJs are legally qualified, and usually sit alone in court magistrates sit in threes. Barristers, solicitors and legal executives can all apply; for both roles you need at least five years' post-qualification experience.
The usual route to becoming a DJ is to be a deputy district judge first — this is a fee-paying part-time role 15 to 50 days a year ; the role of district judge is full-time and salaried. It's worth remembering that once you've become a salaried judge at any level you can't go back to private practice, which you can do if you've only had a fee-paid role.
There are currently over district judges in England and Wales. One district judge MC we spoke to had worked in an advocacy-heavy role as a criminal solicitor for nearly two decades before becoming a deputy DJ. I was also part of a project on restorative justice. From being a district judge it's possible to become a recorder and hence a circuit judge. But being a DJ is a good career end-point in itself. Like magistrates, DJs MC can also sit in the specialised family and youth courts.
Cases here often throw into relief the huge social and community responsibility which judges have. A recorder is essentially a part-time circuit judge, and like being a deputy district or tribunal judge the role is fee-paid ie paid by the day rather than salaried. Recorders are appointed either to the Crown Court or the County Court , the former doing criminal work, the latter civil and family.
Recorders must be able to sit for at least three weeks 15 days a year and preferably more than six weeks 30 days. Over recorders were recruited that year from over 1, applicants. The JAC began a new recruitment round for recorders in — once again there were around positions vacant.
Traditionally, becoming a recorder was the first step on the judicial ladder for barristers, while solicitors tended to become district judges. The Judicial Appointment Commission has been working fervently in recent years to break down this divide — both solicitors and barristers can apply for the role, and the post-qualification experience required was lowered from ten years to seven in As with all judicial appointments, competition for a position as a recorder is fierce.
For example, Members of the Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales deal with sensitive cases considering patients who are detained in hospital, or who are living in the community subject to a conditional discharge, community treatment or guardianship order.
The Social Entitlement Chamber Social Security and Child Support of the First-tier Tribunal hears appeals relating to a wide variety of benefit decisions made by central government. The Valuation Tribunal for England deals with disputes around council tax, non-domestic business rates and local taxation appeals. We also recruit for some devolved tribunals such as the Agricultural Land Tribunal for Wales which hears and determines disputes arising between landlords and tenants of agricultural holdings in Wales, as well as disputes about the condition of drainage of land in Wales.
A Land Owner Lay Member of the Agricultural Tribunal role is open to people with knowledge and experience of land management and rural affairs in Wales. Tribunals hear evidence from witnesses, decide cases and have limited powers to impose fines and other penalties, depending on the jurisdiction of the case.
Tribunal judges can sit alone or with other, non-legally-qualified tribunal panel members. Becoming a tribunal judge. Why I became a tribunal judge. More experienced judges often hold additional leadership responsibilities over and above their day to day duty.
You can find out about leadership roles here: leadership-responsibilities. For example, a Senior Circuit Judge, Resident Judge has significant leadership and management duties. They are responsible for making sure cases within the court centre are managed efficiently, alongside managing their own cases and caseload.
They work with other judges at the court centre to make sure that work complies with current guidelines and good practice, and that, where needed, action is being taken to improve performance. This role therefore has significant responsibility to make sure the court is able to conduct its business promptly and effectively.
These charts have been designed to give a clear pathway of what progression looks like: judicial-career-progression-charts. The charts also highlight the lines of responsibility for judges with leadership roles. You will find the tabs next to each chart provides eligibility requirements that are needed for some of the posts. Senior selection panels are chaired by the Lord Chief Justice or his nominee and comprise five members, including lay persons.
Current office holders are disqualified from sitting on panels to identify their successors. Statutory consultation with the Lord Chancellor is conducted prior to the launch of an exercise and also ahead of interviews. Biographies of these more senior judges can be found here: biographies. We select candidates for authorisation to act as judges of the High Court under section 9 1 of the Senior Courts Act The Commission has an agreed section 9 1 policy anyone authorised to act as a judge of the High Court before October is not affected by this policy.
Candidates who are successful in these exercises might not be authorised immediately but will become part of a pool. This could involve passing through a metal detector. Obey any instructions of the court officers and security guards.
Call others in the courtroom such as lawyers and witnesses by their title and surname; for example, Mrs Citizen. Be polite. Do not be critical or offensive to people in court.
Mobile phones and laptops Turn off your mobile phone and other devices unless the Magistrate lets you to have them on. If you are representing yourself What to do in advance If you need a TV monitor, DVD player or other equipment, tell court staff well in advance. You may need to provide your own equipment. Come in to test the equipment at least two days before your case.
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