Chief Magistrate of England and Wales
Script error: No such module "Draft topics".
Script error: No such module "AfC topic".
The Senior District Judge (Chief Magistrate), as he or she is known, is a senior Judge in England and Wales. Despite the title, The Chief Magistrate has no authority over the 13,000 lay magistrates who sit in Magistrates' Courts in England and Wales, although they work closely alongside each other.[1]
The Chief Magistrate has leadership responsibility for the 300-or-so District Judges (Magistrates' Courts) (Judiciary of England and Wales - Wikipedia )(DJMCs), and Deputy DJMCs across England and Wales.[1]
The current Chief Magistrate is Senior District Judge Paul Goldspring. He is assisted by a Deputy, currently Tanweer Ikram.[1]
Origins of the post[edit]
When the first Chief Magistrate began sitting at Bow Street in 1735, the title wasn't confusing at all – at the time, magistrates in London were paid judicial office-holders, and magistrates' courts in London were presided over by Metropolitan stipendiary magistrates. All magistrates – paid and unpaid – are Justices of the Peace. Nowadays the word magistrate is more commonly used for the unpaid judicial office holders, also commonly known as JPs.[1] The first was Col Sir Thomas de Veil who in 1735 rented a house in Bow Street, just south of where the Royal Opera House now is, and turned it into a court office. He was followed by Henry Fielding, the novelist, and his brother Jack Fielding.
The two Fielding brothers established the Bow Street Runners and so for a time they were not only Chief Magistrates but also Chief Commissioners of Police. Early holders of the post also had responsibility for the Bow Street Runners, until they were replaced by the Metropolitan Police in the 19th century.
In 2000, the various stipendiary magistrates around the country became District Judges (Magistrates' Courts), under the leadership of the Senior District Judge (Chief Magistrate), a title conferred by parliament.[1]
The title changed with the Courts Act in 2003[2] when it became Senior District Judge (Chief Magistrate). The first Senior District Judge of England and Wales was Penny Hewitt,[3] whose interest in the law started with the 20 or so odd years she spent as a magistrate before qualifying as a barrister and later becoming a provincial stipendiary magistrate.
Responsibilities[edit]
The Chief Magistrate is responsible for hearing many of the most sensitive or complex cases in the magistrates' courts and in particular extradition and special jurisdiction cases. supporting and guiding district judge (magistrates' courts) colleagues. liaising with the senior judiciary and Presiding Judges on matters relating to magistrates' courts and district judges (magistrates' courts). The Chief Magistrate's Office is also responsible for arranging sittings of Deputy DJMCs across England and Wales, and managing the hearings of disciplinary adjudications in prisons. Where a disciplinary offence by a prisoner merits additional days of imprisonment, full-time district judges are deployed to prisons to hear the cases. Requests come from prisons throughout the country – a list of cases is then built up, and when a sufficient number of cases has been generated, a judge attends the prison to hear them.
List of post holders[edit]
Chief Metropolitan Magistrates
1735-1748: Sir Thomas de Veil
1748-1754: Henry Fielding
1754-1780: Sir John Fielding
1780: Sir Sampson Wright
1780-1800: Sir William Addington
1800-1806: Sir Richard Ford
1806-1813: Mr James Read
1813-1820: Sir Nathaniel Conant
1820-1821: Sir Robert Baker
1821-1832: Sir Richard Birnie
1832-1839: Sir Frederick Roe
1839-1864: Mr. Thomas J. Hall
1864-1876: Sir Sir Thomas Henry
1876-1890: Sir James Taylor Ingham
1890-1900: Sir John Bridge
1900-1901: Sir Franklin Lushington
1901-1913: Sir Albert De Rutzen
1913 (May–June): Sir Henry Curtis Bennet
1913-1920: Sir John Dickinson
1920-1933 Sir Henry Chartres Biron
1933-1940: Sir Rollo F. Graham – Campbell
1940-1941: Sir Robert Ernest Dummett
1941-1948: Sir John Betrand Watson
1948-1960: Sir Laurence Rivers Dunne M.C.
1960-1967: Sir Robert Henderson Blundell
1967-1975: Sir Frank Milton
1975-1978: Sir Kenneth J.P Barraclough C.B.E, T.D
1978-1982: Sir Evelyn C.S. Russell
1982-1992: Sir David A. Hopkin
1992-1997: Sir Peter G. Noto Badge
1997-2000: Graham E. Parkinson C.B.E.
Senior District Judges (Chief Magistrates)
2000-2003: Penelope A. Hewitt C.B.E.
2003-2010: Timothy H. Workman C.B.E
2010-2016: Howard C.F. Riddle C.B.E
2016-2021: (Lady) Emma Arbuthnot[4]
2021-present: Paul Goldspring[1]
External Links[edit]
- Chief Magistrate | Courts and Tribunals Judiciary
- District judge (magistrates' courts) | Courts and Tribunals Judiciary
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Chief Magistrate". Judiciary of England & Wales. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ↑ "Courts Act 2003". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ↑ "Hewitt, Penelope Ann, (Born 4 May 1932), Senior District Judge (Chief Magistrate), Bow Street Magistrates' Court, 2000–03". Who's Who. Who's Who. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U20011. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 19 November 2021. Search this book on
- ↑ "High Court Appointment". Judiciary of England & Wales. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
This article "Chief Magistrate of England and Wales" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Chief Magistrate of England and Wales. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
