Schedule 1 - Listed judicial offices
Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill
4:45 pm
Mr Crispin Blunt (Reigate, Conservative)
This long list of amendments relates to the nomenclature of magistrates and proposes replacing ''District Judges (Magistrates' Courts)'' with the term ''Resident Magistrates''. I had hoped that the list was comprehensive, but I understand that it might not be, and a few more amendments will be required to tidy the matter up if the Government are minded to accept the alteration.
When the review body sat, there was no controversy about the name of resident magistrates. However, the review body took it upon itself to come to the following conclusion, in paragraph 6.142. It is worth reading it out as a classic example of the bureaucratic tidy mind at work.
We have a further recommendation to make which is intended to demonstrate publicly that the magistracy is an integral part of the judiciary. In looking at the titles of the various tiers of judiciary, we gave some thought to the nomenclature of resident magistrates.
Having got that far, it is worth noting that at no stage does the review report anybody expressing any concern about the nomenclature of resident magistrates in the course of their work. It continued:
As we note in the next chapter, the term 'resident' has its origins in the nineteenth century when there were particular reasons for wanting office holders to live in the district where they held office. It has no meaning or relevance in the modern context. Moreover, we think that there is an opportunity, through a name change, to demonstrate publicly that the magistracy is an integral part of the judiciary. We recommend that legislation be passed to redesignate resident magistrates as district judges (magistrates' courts) . . . We favour retention of the term magistrates' court as it is commonly understood and reflected in a very large number of legislative provisions.
As we have seen from the number of amendments that are needed to the Bill to implement the renaming of resident magistrates, the term is widely used and well understood in Northern Ireland, not least by the profession itself.
The view of the resident magistrates should be the determinant as far as the view of the Committee is concerned. In their latest submission to the Minister they say:
The majority of Resident Magistrates maintain their objection to the change of name. We made a number of points re same on two visits to the Review Commission and also made written submissions. We understand from our other sources that part of the reasoning for change is similar to that in England and Wales (ie Section 78 of the Access to Justice Act 1999), which was to more fully recognise the status of stipendiary magistrates as members of the professional Judiciary.
It is the view of the Association that in Northern Ireland that our status and indeed our key role in the professional Judiciary particularly over the last 30 years has always been fully recognised.
So there is no concern from the people who would be the supposed victims of the situation that their roles are not understood. The other reason why I would urge the Government to give serious consideration to the amendments is that the term ''Resident Magistrate'' is not only one that is widely understood among the legal profession, it is also one that, in terms of pre-partition Ireland, has a literary meaning, initially through the successful book ''Some Experiences of an Irish R.M.'' which was subsequently dramatised as a television series. People are immensely familiar with that piece of Irish literature. Some might say that my sympathy for retaining the name results from the fact that the hero of the book—a Major Sinclair Yeates, who narrates the stories—is described in the ''Oxford Companion to Irish Literature'' as one who
combines the wide-eyed naivety of the straightforward Englishman abroad—
that is sometimes how I feel when dealing with Northern Ireland legislative matters—
with a tolerant and fun-loving disposition—
I shall allow others to make that judgment—
equipping him perfectly for the rough-and-tumble of the Irish village.
It may also be said that the Minister fits the role of the major's friend and inveterate antagonist Flurry Knox. The Minister and I may be antagonists in Committee and on the Floor of the House, but I regard him as a friend just as Knox and the major were friends. We have both been members of several Standing Committees, and I have come to know him extremely well.
The literary reason for retaining a name is worth while because of the culture that surrounds the judiciary. It is not necessary to change the name; it is well understood in Northern Ireland. The resident magistrates themselves want to keep the name. Although resident means that the magistrates are required to be resident in a particular place, I also take it to mean permanent—which is precisely what it is. I hope that the Government look kindly upon the amendments.