Magistrates: Age

(asked on 5th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of extending the cut-off age for magistrates beyond 70 on the administration of justice in magistrates' courts; and whether his Department plans to implement that change.


Answered by
Alex Chalk Portrait
Alex Chalk
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
This question was answered on 10th November 2020

The Government has consulted on an increase to the mandatory retirement age for all judicial office holders, including magistrates. That consultation set out our assessment that increasing the mandatory retirement age could help to retain valuable judicial resource and expertise.

The consultation closed on 16 October, with over 1000 responses received from the magistracy, judiciary and legal professions and analysis of these responses is underway. We intend to publish the Government’s response in the near future, with a view to legislate for any changes we decide to make at the earliest opportunity.

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