§ Lord Windleshamasked Her Majesty's Government:
What proportion of (a) lay and (b) stipendiary magistrates in England and Wales are drawn from Afro-Caribbean or Asian ethnic minorities. [HL1510]
§ The Lord Chancellor (Lord Irvine of Lairg)(a) A survey of lay magistrates (excluding those in the Duchy of Lancaster) conducted in 1997 indicated that there were 753 lay magistrates, 286 female and 467 male, from Afro-Caribbean and Asian ethnic minorities (2.9 per cent). The survey showed that overall 4.1 per cent of magistrates classified themselves as belonging to an ethnic minority community. There has, however, been an increasing percentage of appointments of people from ethnic minorities in recent years; in 1995, 6 per cent of those appointed were from an ethnic minority and last year the figure rose to 7.6 per cent. Figures for the total number of magistrates from ethnic minorities will be available later this year and I am confident that the percentage will show an increase over 1997. (b) There are two stipendiary magistrates from the Asian community, one female and one male (1.9 per cent).