Home Office: Magistrates' Courts (MAG Symbol Series) Files

HO 293

1950-1988

Files from the Home Office MAG (Magistrates' Courts) symbol series dealing with the administration, jurisdiction, appointment and control of magistrates' courts in England and Wales, the appointment and conditions of service of justices and justices' clerks, the functions of Magistrates' Courts Committees and the reorganisation of petty sessional divisions or areas.

The papers in this series relate mainly to particular issues giving rise to changes in policy or legislation, as well as to the preparation and passage of the legislation itself. Among the latter are the Criminal Justice Administration Act 1956, the Metropolitan Magistrates' Courts Act 1959 and the Justices of the Peace Act 1965.

The papers in this series are arranged in numerical order by departmental file number. The inclusion of a date preceding a file number (as in (1959) 6/8/1) indicates that the year in which the file was created was included in the file reference number. Thus the full departmental reference of a file listed as (1959) 6/8/1 would be MAG/59 6/8/1.

MAG Symbol file series

Public Record(s)

English

108 file(s)

Open

From 1988 Home Office

Topics

Policing

Since these matters were and are the joint responsibility of the Home Secretary and the Lord Chancellor's Department, the Home Office role in this area, apart from instituting legislation and major changes in policy, is mainly as a consultative body, providing guidance and advice for magistrates' courts and Magistrates' Courts Committees when necessary. Much of the work therefore, involves liaison with the Lord Chancellor's Department, local authorities, trades unions and professional bodies such as the Magistrates' Association and the Justices' Clerks Society.