Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-05-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many magistrates were recruited in each of the last three years.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Magistrates are recruited locally according to the business needs of the magistrates’ courts. The number of magistrates recruited in each of the last three financial years is shown below:

2011/12 – 442

2012/13 – 414

2013/14 – 162

The downturn in recruitment of new magistrates is a natural consequence of falling workloads in the magistrates’ courts, due to factors such as falling crime. The fall in overall numbers is a consequence of the downturn in recruitment combined with the relatively steady levels of retirements and resignations.