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A weekly programme which focuses on people and the situations which shape their lives
Reporters: Jim Douglas Henry, Jeremy James, Jeanne La Chard, John Percival, Gillian Strickland, Desmond Wilcox, Harold Williamson

This week: Justice of the Peace
If you break the law, no matter if you have murdered your wife or forgotten to pay your TV licence, the chances are that the first court to which you are summoned will be presided over by an amateur - a part-time magistrate. Out of nearly 20,000 magistrates in England and Wales, less than fifty are paid for their vocation. The vast majority are lay Justices, worthy members of society who give up part of their spare time to sit in judgment on the rest of us. They work for nothing more than the honour and the responsibility. The way they are appointed is a mystery even to them, because the selection process is shrouded in secrecy. But the majority of them, even today, are middle-class people of mature years, because they are the people most likely to have the time to spare.
It is these men and women who deal with ninety-eight per cent of all criminal cases, let alone all the petty offences like parking in restricted areas, which almost all of us commit at some time or another. The odds are that one day you will appear before a Justice of the Peace. What kind of people are they? What sort of qualifications do they have? Are they the right people for the enormously responsible job they have to do?
Report by John Percival

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