Question to the Ministry of Justice:

If he will take steps to invite all magistrates under the age of 75 who were automatically retired at the age of 70 to state whether or not they wish to rejoin the Bench.

When the new judicial mandatory retirement age comes into force, there will be a transitional provision to enable retired magistrates to apply to return to the bench, subject to business need.

We will be contacting recently retired magistrates later this year to invite them to express their interest in rejoining the bench.