Providing a Cross-section of Society

• Magistrates are members of the community who represent a broader cross-section of society than judges. About 47 percent of magistrates are women, and roughly 5 percent are judges, according to Law Teacher, a British legal essay professional writing company. The number of ethnic minorities is negligible, but their participation is more significant than in the main judiciary. One advantage of using magistrates is that they are typically open-minded middle-class professionals. Also, since the law requires a magistrate to live within 15 miles of the area of the court, they are likely to have knowledge of the problems of the locality.
  
  

Cost and Training

• The government saves an estimated £100 million -- $164 million -- a year by using unpaid lay magistrates. Magistrate trials also cost less compared to the Crown Court's. Critics complain that magistrates' quality of work is shoddy. But as training improves, magistrates are increasingly becoming more competent. Additionally, magistrates receive advice from clerks who are more legally qualified.
  
  

Competent Judgment

• The improved quality of magistrates is reflected by the small number of defendants who appeal their decisions. Out of 1.5 million criminal cases in 1995 there were only about 25,500 appeals, and less than half of them were actually successful.
  
  

Lenient in Sentencing

• Magistrates are criticized because of the differences in the number of defendants sent to prison. But even with such discrepancies in sentencing for the same type of offense, lay magistrates are generally more lenient than judges.