Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to stipulate that in cases where a bench may sentence a defendant to a sentence of over six months that there must be three magistrates sitting.

Magistrates are fully trusted to make sound legal decisions, supported by legal advisors. We are working with the Sentencing Council to update sentencing guidelines, and magistrates will receive training before their sentencing powers are extended. These increased powers will apply to District Judges and magistrates. District Judges will be able to sit alone, and magistrates will be able to sit as a bench of two or three, as is currently the case.