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Peter Lyons Lay magistrates have been described as middle-class, middle-aged and middle-minded. 1.Explain the selection and role of magistrates. 2.Comment on the criticisms that have been made of the lay magistrates system. Do you agree? Explain your answer fully. 1. Before explaining the role and selection of Magistrates I first have to explain what a magistrate is. A Magistrate is commonly known as a lay person i.e. a person who is not legally qualified, in the decision making process in our courts. Like juries, lay magistrates have a long history in the English legal system, dating back to the Justices Of Peace Act 1361, which, probably in response to a crime wave, gave judicial powers to appointed lay people. Their main role now then, as now, was dealing with criminals, but they also exercised certain administrative functions, and until the nineteenth century the business of local government was largely entrusted to them. A...

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