1. The magistrates’ court
The magistrates’ court is best known as the first tier of the criminal justice system. There are more than 150 magistrates’ courts in England and Wales, which deal with over 90 per cent of all criminal cases. The administration of magistrates’ courts in England and Wales is the responsibility of HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), which is part of the Ministry of Justice.
Magistrates have traditionally been lay volunteers (ie, unpaid and not legally qualified), although it is increasingly common for them to be full time and paid, particularly in London and urban areas. Paid magistrates are called district judges and are either barristers or solicitors.
Lay magistrates depend on their legally qualified clerks (known as justices’ clerks) for much of their decision making. A justices’ clerk is a civil servant and usually a qualified barrister or solicitor. S/he is present at all hearings to direct the way the hearing proceeds and to advise the magistrates on the law and procedure, and on the penalties available and any guidance on their use, but should not otherwise take any part in the proceedings. The justices’ clerk may delegate these tasks to appropriately qualified assistant justices’ clerks (or ‘legal advisers’). All justices’ clerks must discuss matters of law (including practices and procedures) in order to ensure that the advice given to the magistrates is consistent.
The justices’ clerk also has administrative functions in relation to the magistrates and the individual court. This includes allocating responsibilities to assistant justices’ clerks and other court staff – eg, issuing summonses, timetabling hearings, collecting payments, such as fines, and conducting means enquiries.
Fines officers are court staff with the power to enforce fines. Since the implementation of the Courts Act 2003, many decisions on fines enforcement that used to require court hearings (such as applications for further time to pay and deciding the enforcement action in cases of default) are now dealt with by fines officers.
In September 2016, HMCTS set up a historic debt team to recover financial penalties which had remained unpaid for up to 10 years. In 2017, the team’s activities were extended to recovering outstanding financial penalties over 10 years old. Collection of other financial penalties may be handled by the National Compliance and Enforcement Centre rather than individual courts. These penalties do not become statute-barred (see here).