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Magistrates
One way to volunteer is to become a magistrate in either an adult or youth court.
Magistrates come from a wide range of backgrounds and occupations. You don’t need a formal qualification or knowledge of the law, but you do need:
- common sense and personal integrity
- a good knowledge of people and your local community
- the ability to listen to all sides of an argument and contribute to fair and reasonable decisions
- reliability and time.
Magistrates' courts deal can only deal with young people under the age of 18 if they are being tried with an adult. Almost all cases involving young people under the age of 18 are instead dealt with by the youth court. This is a section of the magistrates' court, often located in the same building.
You would have to train for and gain experience in an adult magistrates’ court before specifically training to work in the youth court. Training would cover:
- administering justice
- deciding on questions of law, practice and procedure
- sentencing young people who have offended in line with legislation and the Human Rights Act, alongside the welfare of the child.
Magistrates usually sit as a panel of three with one acting as the chair with responsibility for addressing the court.
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