Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2016 to Question 22715, what monitoring is done to ensure that youth court magistrates deal fairly with those who appear before them.

Mr Shailesh Vara

All magistrates are selected against published criteria and take an oath to “do right to all manner of people after the laws and usages of this realm, without fear or favour, affection or ill will.” Under the Magistrates’ National Training Initiative, magistrates’ appraisals are conducted on a triennial basis. Youth Magistrates are appraised against a specific competence framework which includes for example, a requirement to demonstrate knowledge of diversity and fair treatment issues.