Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will place in the Library a copy of the course materials used to train magistrates in relation to domestic violence.

Under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, responsibility for the training of magistrates rests with the Lord Chief Justice and is exercised through the Judicial College.

In order to protect judicial independence all training is carried out under the direction of the judiciary and all judicial training materials belong to them. I am therefore unable to comply with your request.

The Judicial College has integrated domestic violence within the training packs prepared for magistrates. The induction, consolidation, and continuation training for magistrates, particularly in the adult and family courts, contain significant exercises looking at issues around domestic violence and the statutory tools available to magistrates in domestic violence cases. Where Magistrates sit in the Specialist Domestic Violence Courts, they will receive additional training for this specialist court.