§ 1. Mr. Skinnardasked the Attorney-General how many justices of the peace have attended refresher courses for magistrates at Ashridge and other centres since 1st January, 1948.
§ The Solicitor-General (Sir Frank Soskice)I am informed that since 1st January, 1948, 2,355 justices of the peace have attended refresher courses for magistrates at Ashridge and other centres.
§ Mr. SkinnardDoes that mean that all newly-appointed justices of the peace do now, as a regular practice, take this course in the law applying to their own courts?
§ The Solicitor-GeneralThe present refresher courses are run by the Magistrates' Association, which is a purely private body over which my noble and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor, as such, has no control at all. Under the terms of the Justices of the Peace Bill, now before another place, there is provision for the establishment of Magistrates' Courts Committees, which will be asked by my noble and learned Friend to prepare schemes for centres in order to implement the recommendation in that behalf of the Royal Commission on Justices of the Peace. The present view of my noble and learned Friend is that justices of the peace should not be required compulsorily to attend such courses, but he will certainly urge them to do so.