Lay People

By Iome-Skye fitzakerley.

The two types of Lay people.

There are two different types of lay people.
• Magistrates
• Jury
These lay people are unqualified member of the public.
To become a magistrate you must apply through the local advisory committee.
Once your application has been seen you have two interviews the first is about your quality's and the second is about testing to see if you are capable of the job such as decision making and sentencing. You must be able to work in teams and with a different kinds of people.
If you get requested to be a jury it is compulsory. You must be 18 or over and must be on an electoral role. Then you will receive a letter in the post you must complete and return the ‘reply to the jury summons’ form within a week. If you don’t do this you could get fined up to a 1000 pound.
You wont get ask to be a juries if you are on bail, if you are mentally ill, also if you have a custodial sentence over 5 years.

Compare the jobs of the 2 types of lay people in paragraphs
Within a Magistrates court there is 3 magistrates present. However sometimes there are 12 juries.
• The two types of lay people are similar but different in a way, both magistrates and juries make a collective decision based on the majority say. The magistrates will run the court room jurying a case, but then a jury would not as they are overseen by a judge.
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The ultimate difference is that being a jury is compulsory if you receive a letter and are over the age of 18 but being a magistrate is not compulsory you chose to apply.

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A jury has no experience within a court room. They are summoned to do jury service , this is compulsory unless a reasonable medical explanation is given. Whereas a Magistrate volunteers to be within a court room and does not receive any pay our funds for their good deeds. Magistrates will decide if someone is guilty or not then give them a sentence, however juries only give a verdict and not the sentence.

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Both types of lay people are local to the court and have no law qualification.

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Magistrates have to do a four part training course and a jury will have nothing but a brief before a court.

Evaluate the effectiveness of lay people
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Lay people are