The Magistrates Association – A Century On

Abstract

One hundred years on from the founding of the Magistrates Association (MA) this article explores the role that the MA has played, and continues to play, in informing and influencing the future development of the magistracy, the courts and the broader criminal justice system. It looks at reforms to the magistracy over the last century and then explores the need for further reform, looking at magistrate numbers, diversity and training, magistrates’ courts and the court reform programme, the powers available to magistrates, and the need for political will to enable the modernisation of the magistracy within the context of reform to the courts.