Lay magistrate

Composition of the bench

Ethnic minorities are reasonably well represented. According to The National Strategy for the Recruitment of Lay Magistrates (2003), 6 per cent of magistrates are of an ethnic minority background which is close to the 7.9 per cent of the population as a whole. Again this compares favourably with the professional judiciary which only has 1 per cent membership from ethnic minorities. This comparatively high level of ethnic minorities in the magistracy is largely a result of campaigns to attract a wider range of candidates, such as that launched by the Lord Chancellor's Department in March 1999. In announcing the campaign Lord Irvine stated: