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Written question asked by Nadine Dorries (Conservative) on Wednesday, 22 October 2014, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 24 October 2014. It was answered by Shailesh Vara (Conservative) on Monday, 3 November 2014 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Stalking

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many magistrates in England and Wales have been given training on the new laws on stalking to date.

Answer

The responsibility for the training of Magistrates lies with the Lord Chief Justice as head of the judiciary and is exercised through the Judicial College.

Magistrates sit with legal advisers in court who advise them on the law. The Judicial College is not responsible for teaching and updating Legal Advisers on the law. However, reference to any relevant law will be made at training events for the topics being covered.

The Judicial College provides regular updates to Legal Advisers on any changes to the law via a jurisdictional electronic internal newsletter and did so in respect of these provisions in June 2012. In addition, the Home Office also issued a circular [Ref: 018/2012] on the new provisions in October 2012, and the Justices Clerks Society issued a circular to their members outlining the new provisions in December 2012.

The Judicial College regularly assesses judicial training needs and how to meet them. Ultimately, magistrates use the law to make independent decisions based on the evidence and information provided to them in court.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
211545
Session
2014-15
Registered interest declared
Yes
Subjects
Magistrates Training Stalking
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk