header-logo header-logo

NLJ this week: Magistrates matter—seven steps to save the volunteer bench

04 July 2025
Issue: 8123 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Criminal , Career focus
printer mail-detail
224745
There is an urgent need to support England and Wales’s 14,000 volunteer magistrates, according to Tom Franklin of the Magistrates’ Association, writing in this week’s NLJ

The ‘Magistrates Matter’ report sets out seven low-cost, high-impact reforms to boost recruitment, retention and morale. These include a national long-service medal, a clear Volunteer Charter, and an annual attitudes survey to track wellbeing and training needs.

Franklin argues that magistrates—who hear over 90% of criminal cases—are vital to local justice but face burnout and under-recognition. Without action, backlogs will worsen and diversity will suffer. He calls for better data on volunteer hours, structured feedback loops, and visible local recognition.

These measures, he says, are not special pleading but essential to system resilience. A justice system run on goodwill alone, he warns, is not sustainable.

Issue: 8123 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Criminal , Career focus
printer mail-details
RELATED ARTICLES

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll