A new national TV and social-media campaign is asking people including taxi drivers and hairdressers to become magistrates, as the Ministry of Justice seeks nearly 6,000 recruits over two years to reach 21,000 by 2028-29 and ease court backlogs.
Ministers want more working-class and ethnic-minority magistrates so the role better reflects local communities. The number of magistrates now stands at 15,259, up from a low of 12,500 in 2022 after earlier Ministry of Justice recruitment campaigns.
Magistrates’ courts are likely to hear more cases under proposed court reforms. The government is expected to remove defendants’ right to elect a Crown Court trial; under the proposed change, magistrates would decide which cases could be heard in either court. Magistrates currently have to sit at least 13 days a year.
