Written question asked by Jonathan Lord (Conservative) on Tuesday, 27 July 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 6 September 2010. It was answered by Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative) on Tuesday, 7 September 2010 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Justices' Clerks: Surrey

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many Clerks to the Justices who were qualified solicitors or barristers there were in Surrey between (a) 1979 and 1989, (b) 1990 and 1999 and (c) 2000 and 2009.

Answer: The clerks to the justices for Surrey between 1979 and 2009 were:"In the period 1979 to 1989 there were six justices' clerks, three of whom were solicitors and three were barristers.""In the period 1990 to 1999 there were four justices' clerks, one of whom was a solicitor and three were barristers.""In the period 2000 to 2009 there was one justices' clerk who was, and still is, a barrister."The justices' clerk is the principal legal adviser to the magistrates and the provider of consistent legal advice throughout their clerkship. Decisions on the numbers of justices clerk before 2005 were taken by Magistrates Courts Committees in consultation with magistrates. The position of justices clerks was reviewed in 2007 when the number of clerkships was reduced from 70 to 49.

Secondary information