page_title: Magistrate (England and Wales)
section_title: History of the magistracy
hierarchical_section_title: Magistrate (England and Wales) / History of the magistracy
caption_attribution_description: Caricature of Robert Henry Bullock-Marsham (1833-1913). Caption read "Bow Street". Accompanying biography in Vanity Fair read "Young men and women who have strayed from the path of honesty have received at his hands an opportunity to reform, and his kindly words of warning advice have often had a far greater effect in checking a criminal career than would a hefty sentence.... He never displays the least sign of anger, and he favours no-one".
context_page_description: In the legal system of England and Wales, there is a history of involving lay people, namely people from the local community who are not required to hold any legal qualifications, in the judicial decision-making process of the courts. They are called justices of the peace or magistrates.
  These magistrates were termed "lay magistrates" to differentiate them from stipendary magistrates. District judges sit alone to hear cases and are permanently employed by the Ministry of Justice. Magistrates are not paid, apart from an allowance for loss of earnings, mileage and subsistence. A practising solicitor or barrister may sit part-time as a deputy district judge. Retired district judges may occasionally sit as deputies. District judges are formally addressed in court as "sir" or "madam". In law reports, they are referred to as "DJ Smith".
  Magistrates generally sit in threes in order to give judgement on a variety of cases in magistrates' courts, youth courts and family proceedings courts. The lead magistrate, known as the chairman, is formally addressed in court as "sir" or "madam" or "your worship", and the magistrates collectively as "your worships".
context_section_description: Magistrate derives from the Middle English word magistrat, denoting a "civil officer in charge of administrating laws" (c.1374); from the Old French magistrat; from the Latin magistratus, which derives from magister (master), from the root of magnus (great). Today, in England and Wales, the word is used to describe a justice of the peace.
  The office of justice of the peace has its origins in the 12th century when Richard I appointed 'keepers of the peace' in 1195. The title justice of the peace derives from 1361, in the reign of Edward III. An Act of 1327 had referred to "good and lawful men" to be appointed in every county in the land to "guard the Peace". Justices of the peace still retain (and occasionally use) the power confirmed to them by the Justices of the Peace Act 1361 to bind over unruly persons "to be of good behaviour". The bind over is not a punishment, but a preventive measure, intended to ensure that a person guilty of a minor disturbance does not re-offend. The Act provided, among other things, "That in every county of England shall be assigned for the keeping of the peace, one lord and with him three or four of the most worthy of the county, with some learned in the law, and they shall have the power to restrain the Offenders, Rioters, and all other Barators, and to pursue, arrest, take and chastise them according to their Trespass or Offence".
  Over the following centuries, justices acquired many administrative duties, such as the administration of the Poor Laws, highways and bridges, and weights and measures. For example, before 1714, magistrates could be approached at any time and in any place by people legally recognised as paupers, appealing to them for aid if parish authorities had refused to provide any. It was relatively common for these magistrates to write out, on the spot, an Order requiring aid to be granted. The 19th century saw elected local authorities taking over many of these duties. There is one remnant of these duties, the appellate jurisdiction over the licensing of pubs and clubs.
  Towards the end of the 18th century, the absence of an adequate police force and the quality of local justices became matters of concern. Justices received no salary from the government, although they could charge fees for their services. They were appointed from prominent citizens of property, but a shortage of landed gentlemen willing to act in London led to problems. In Middlesex, for example, the commission was increasingly dominated by merchants, tradesmen and a small number of corrupt magistrates, known as "Trading Justices" because they exploited their office for financial purposes. A Police Bill in 1785 failed to bring adequate supervision of justices. However, the Middlesex Justices Act of 1792 set up seven public offices, in addition to Bow Street, London, with three justices in each, with salaries of £400 a year. The power to take fees was removed from all justices in the city. Six constables were appointed to each office, with powers of arrest. This was the origin of the modern stipendiary magistrate (district judge).
  One famous magistrate was Sir John Fielding (known as the "Blind Beak of Bow Street"), who succeeded his half-brother as magistrate in Bow Street Magistrates' Court in 1754 and refined his small band of officers (formerly known as the Bow Street Runners) into an effective police force for the capital. Stipendiaries remained in charge of the police until 1839.
  The first paid magistrate outside London was appointed in 1813 in Manchester. The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 gave boroughs the ability to request the appointment of a stipendiary magistrate in their locality. Originally stipendiaries were not required to have any qualifications, however they could only be appointed from the ranks of barristers (from 1839) and solicitors (from 1849).
  Women in England and Wales were not allowed to become justices until 1919, the first woman being Ada Summers, the Mayor of Stalybridge, who was a JP by virtue of her office. Today, the number of male and female magistrates is approximately equ
caption: Robert Henry Bullock-Marsham, stipendiary magistrate sitting at Bow Street, 1905
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