Annual Meeting of the Benches of Magistrates
The Lord-Lieutenant “attended” the annual meetings of both benches of magistrates this week on Zoom. On 23rd March he addressed the West & Central Bench and on 25th March he addressed the North & East bench and at each, he thanked the many magistrates for the wonderful way they have continued to ensure that justice has been administered during the pandemic. Although the working practices have had to be adapted with two magistrates sitting instead of three and those in the family courts often having to work from home-technology has helped. He admired the resilience, dedication and determination of the magistrates whose role is, of course, voluntary.
He also expressed his thanks to the two retiring bench chairs-Alison MacDougall and Nicholas Moss- who he said had been of great help to him personally in educating him in the ways of the courts.
There are total of 233 magistrates in Hertfordshire and anyone can apply to become a magistrate and serve the community.