District Judges in the Magistrates' Court

A Magistrates' Court is correctly constituted with a bench of at least two (lay) Magistrates or a legally qualified District Judge (Magistrates' Court).

Both Magistrates and District Judges are Justices of the Peace by virtue of their appointment.

A District Judge sits alone. He/she can do any act, and exercise alone any jurisdiction, which can be done or exercised by two Magistrates, apart from granting or transferring a licence.

District Judges have national jurisdiction throughout England and Wales. They are appointed by the Monarch and have the authority to sit at any Magistrates' Court. At the time of writing there are around 130 salaried, full-time District Judges sitting in the Magistrates' Court.

There are also several hundred legally qualified Deputy District Judges, who are appointed by the Lord Chancellor and sit on a part-time, fee-paid basis. To all intents and purposes a Deputy District Judge has exactly the same powers as a salaried, full-time District Judge.

The Role of District Judges:

As alluded to above, a District Judge could find him/herself dealing with any work that would appear before a bench of Magistrates. However, owing to their professional legal qualification, District Judges are more likely to end up dealing with the following types of work:

• cases involving complex points of law or evidence;
• novel points or issues arising from new legislation;
• cases involving complex procedural issues;
• pre-trial reviews and case management;
• long cases (over two days);
• some interlinked cases requiring a consistency of approach;
• cases involving considerations of public safety;
• cases involving intimidation of witnesses;
• cases involving immunity applications;
• serious environmental and public health cases;
• breach of community penalties and review of drug treatment and testing orders, where consistency and continuity important;
• cases that concern defendants with mental disabilities, where special rules exist affecting the powers of remand, trial, and disposal.

In addition, some District Judges:

• have jurisdiction to hear cases under the Extradition Acts. These same District Judges, by convention, conduct Mutual Assistance hearings under the Fugitive Offenders Acts; 
• are designated by the Lord Chief Justice to deal with matters under the Terrorism Act 2000;
• are authorised to try cases which may result in unlimited fines.

The Lord Chief Justice expects that District Judges will deal with cases across the full breadth of their jurisdiction, including in areas other than their own base court.

Appointment of District Judges:

The statutory qualification is a five-year right of audience in relation to all proceedings in any part of the Supreme Court, or all proceedings in County Courts or Magistrates' Courts (e.g. as a solicitor, barrister or Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives).

In addition, candidates must have knowledge of criminal law and procedure and should be able to offer a reasonable length of service, usually of 5 years, before the statutory retirement age of 70.

It is also expected that candidates will have previous judicial experience sitting as a judge in a salaried or fee-paid capacity, or experience in a similar role such as chair of an equivalent body for which a legal qualification is required. Most District Judges will have served at least two years (or 30 sittings) as a Deputy District Judge prior to their appointment.

Terms of Employment of District Judges:

District Judges are required to sit a minimum of 215 days per year, which includes 8 reading days. They may be required to sit 5 days a week, including on a Saturday or Public Holiday.

They are required to retire at the age of 70 years and need to live a reasonable distance from their base court or courts.

District Judges cannot practise as a solicitor or barrister during their judicial employment.

Generally speaking, around 80 percent of a District Judge's work will be at their base court or courts, but they may be deployed elsewhere in England and Wales depending on business needs.

District Judges are entitled to 30 days annual leave.

The salary for a District Judge is around £110,000 at the time of writing and, in certain circumstances, they can claim additional expenses for travel and subsistence.

The daily rate of pay for a Deputy District Judge is around £510 at the time of writing and they can similarly claim travel and subsistence expenses.

Deputy District Judges are required to sit a minimum of 15 days per year. Most continue to work as a solicitor or barrister, but must be careful that there is no conflict of interest with their judicial duties.

Magistrates do not receive any payment, but can claim travel and subsistence expenses. Additionally, those Magistrates in employment can claim an allowance to cover any loss of earnings arising from their judicial duties (e.g. if their employer only grants unpaid leave for judicial duties, or they are self-employed and lose work).

District Judges vs. Magistrates:

Despite it being a regular point of discussion, there has been very little research comparing the effectiveness of professionally qualified District Judges and lay Magistrates in the Magistrates' Court.

Back in 2011 the Ministry of Justice commissioned Ipsos MORI to undertake a study called "The Strengths and Skills of the Judiciary in the Magistrates' Court".

Researchers conducted in-depth interviews and discussion groups with 355 Magistrates' Court stakeholders, including member of the judiciary, court staff and professional and lay court users. They also observed 2,291 cases at 44 different Magistrates' Courts across England and Wales and compared the conduct and outcomes of those cases presided over by District Judges and Magistrates.

Overall, there is very little difference in the quality of justice delivered by District Judges and Magistrates.

District Judges dispose of cases faster, but Magistrates are cheaper (a bench of three Magistrates will probably claim well under £100 for a day in court, which is considerably less than the daily rate of a District Judge or Deputy District Judge).

Magistrates are generally considered to be more in touch with the local issues affecting fellow citizens appearing before the court; District Judges are generally considered less so. Some consider the three heads of a bench of Magistrates preferable to the single head, perhaps cynical or dogmatic, of a District Judge. There is a perception, rightly or wrongly, that Magistrates give defendants a fairer crack of the whip.

District Judges are more likely to sentence defendants to custodial sentences, grant conditional bail or impose driving disqualifications, but that is because they are more likely to handle cases with those possible outcomes. Magistrates are more likely to endorse a defendant's driving licence or impose penalty points, but that is because they are more likely to deal with summary motoring offences.