Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of reviewing the mandatory retirement age for magistrates.

The mandatory retirement age for judicial office holders, including magistrates, was increased from 70 to 75 in March 2022. 797 magistrates aged 70 or over were reinstated as a result of the policy change, and as of 1 April 2026 1,933 magistrates in post were aged 70 or over. Some internal analysis of the impacts of raising the retirement age has been carried out and found that the policy had met its main aim of retaining experienced judicial office holders and supporting court capacity in the short term. The Government has no current plans to review the mandatory retirement age for magistrates. A fixed retirement age supports judicial independence and public confidence in the judiciary by avoiding the need for individual assessments of the health or competency of judicial office holders.