Courts act over shortage of male magistrates
POSITIVE discrimination has been adopted in a recruitment advertising campaign – to attract more men.
A magistrates’ association is trying to get more males who might be interested in helping deal with “low level crime” offenders by filling vacant voluntary and unpaid posts in its courts in Avon and Somerset.
Information published by the Ministry of Justice shows that during a drive to fill 48 vacancies, Avon and Somerset aimed to balance magistrates’ benches that have become dominated by white women who were not in full-time work. At a time when many businesses are struggling to address the gender pay gap, the advert noted: “To maintain a bench that is representative of the community we would particularly like to encourage applications from men, members of black and minority ethnic communities, people in paid employment and people with disability.”
A spokesman for the judiciary was unable to provide details of how many men sit on the bench in Avon and Somerset, or whether the drive to entice them into the service had been successful, but said nationally the proportion of female JPS was 54 per cent, reaching more than 60 per cent in Leics, Northants and Surrey.
John Bache, chairman of the Magistrates Association, said he “would im- agine that they have more female than male magistrates and they are trying to make it more balanced”. He added: “We are keen to get a magistracy that reflects the society in which they work.”
But the proportion of women justices of the peace has not been reflected in paid areas of the judiciary, leading to claims that this is “male, pale and stale”. In the Supreme Court just two justices are women; in the Court of Appeal, 24 per cent are female; with 18 per cent in the High Court and 28 per cent in courts generally.
Josephine Van Lierop, an employment lawyer, said it was rare to see a selective application process in the legal industry, and rarer to see it in favour of men. But she said: “It is a simple invitation to encourage a certain group to apply. It is not saying that people in other groups cannot apply.”
Magistrates at that level are unpaid, but can claim limited allowances for loss of earnings and travel. Mr Bache said that while Avon and Somerset might have an issue with the amount of men among their ranks, the real concern lay with recruiting black and ethnic minority magistrates who make up just 11 per cent of the service compared with 14 per cent of the population.
He added: “We would particularly like to encourage employers to let their staff take time off to serve.”
According to government statistics, women make up 41 per cent of the senior civil service, 54 per cent of GPS and 34 per cent of NHS consultants. Only 26 per cent of FTSE 100 company bosses are women. In Parliament, under a third of MPS are women, and in the Lords only 24 per cent of peers are female.