Nicola – Magistrate – June 2005

The word Magistrate conjures up a picture of a balding middle-aged man peering down at me over half-moon spectacles talking condescendingly with a clipped public school accent.  It certainly does not make me think of anybody like Nicola Pearce, an attractive young single Mum with a pronounced regional burr.
            ‘For as long as I remember, I wanted to be a magistrate but always thought it was something I could do when I was 50,’ says Nicola.  But through her job at the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, she met other magistrates who encouraged her to join the Bath bench when her youngest child started school.  Nicola has been sitting as a Justice of the Peace since September 2004 and is delighted to be contributing to an integral part of the British legal system that goes back over 800 years.
            It was in 1195 that Richard 1st commissioned certain knights to preserve the peace in unruly areas; they were known as Keepers of the Peace.  The term Justices of the Peace is from the reign of Edward 3rd when it was decided that ‘good and lawful’ men be appointed in every county to ‘guard the peace’.  But it was not until after the First World War and women’s suffrage that in 1919 the first woman was appointed as a lay magistrate in Cheshire.
            Initially Nicola wrote into Bath Magistrates’ Court in the summer of 2003 and received an application form and information which advised her to visit the public gallery of the courts to observe the proceedings. All criminal prosecutions come in front of a Magistrates’ Court for the charge to be read and for the defendant to enter a plea; serious crimes are immediately passed to the crown court but over 90% of all crimes are dealt with by lay magistrates.  After visiting the courts, Nicola decided to continue with her application although it was several months before she was called to interview.  There was also a second interview after which police checks were made.  If someone has committed a relatively minor offence such as speeding, it does not preclude them from becoming a JP, but if they have a more substantial criminal record, their application cannot be accepted.  It was nine months before Nicola heard she had been accepted to sit on the Bath bench and was sworn-in by a circuit judge at a formal ceremony.  Along with a handful of other new magistrates, she started the necessarily thorough training programme.
            ‘You get told about the due processes of the court and observations are an important part of the training.  That’s when it all starts to fall into place,’ remembers Nicola. ‘There is a lot of role play which is effective although the first time I sat on the bench was really nerve-wracking.’ She was very grateful to have a mentor on hand who was always available and could answer any questions  In the time since Nicola has been on the Bath bench, she has noticed that a lot of the cases involve motoring offences, criminal damage and fighting which tend to be caused by younger people, often as a result of alcohol or substance abuse.  But the majority of cases that she has dealt with have been related to road traffic offences.
            ‘I don’t know enough about the system to say if it works overall but for the more vulnerable in society, it could probably be improved,’ says Nicola.   ‘There isn’t enough wider support for those with addiction or mental health problems or for the homeless.’  However, she has been impressed by the wide area of expertise among her fellow magistrates and their lack of prejudice.
            ‘Some of the people I’ve worked with are very well spoken, but I’ve been consistently impressed by their understanding and knowledge of different walks of life,’ says Nicola.  ‘Their wider experience is so great that it makes them very good at their job as magistrates.’  It is a job that carries a lot of responsibility and as a result Nicola thinks many people are unaware that it is voluntary.  However given its importance, anyone who becomes a magistrate is legally entitled to have a reasonable amount of time off work to carry out the necessary duties.  Any loss of earnings and expenses can be claimed back as can any expense incurred by an employer needing to replace an absent employee.
            Nicola’s experience to date has certainly lived up to her expectations although she still finds the responsibility daunting.  She knows that she does not fit the stereotypical image of a magistrate but has encountered so many different people from a variety of backgrounds that she wonders if my idea of a typical magistrate really exists.

© Judith Cameron