OBV: Changing face of the magistracy

The Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer will launch the OBV and Department for Constitutional Affairs Magistrates Shadowing Scheme at 11.45am on Monday, 12 December 2005 at The Law Society, 113 Chancery Lane, London, WC2A 1PL (nearest underground Chancery Lane).

The Magistrates Shadowing Scheme, first launched in 2001, and welcomed by courts around the country allows individuals from a range of BME communities, including Turkish and Korean groups to learn about the roles and responsibilities of magistrates and act as community ambassadors explaining and promoting the magistracy to others.

Newly appointed OBV scheme magistrates and senior court officials from across the UK will attend the launch to support the campaign to help to bring about a more equitable judiciary.

Lord Falconer said: "The scheme gives magistrates and people from minority ethnic communities the opportunity to work alongside each other, exchanging views and sharing experiences. One key objective of this scheme is to encourage the participants to apply to become magistrates, enabling the magistracy to benefit from all the different skills, cultures, life experience and backgrounds found throughout the country. The Shadowing Scheme has brought considerable success so far and has contributed towards making the magistracy more diverse”.

Simon Woolley, Director of Operation Black Vote said: "The judicial landscape is changing to mirror Britain’s multi-ethnic society. These efforts must continue so that BME communities up and down the country have greater confidence in the judicial system at every level. We will see a rise in the numbers of BME individuals taking roles not just as magistrates but also on parole boards and other positions within the Criminal Justice System. The nation’s social well-being depends on BME communities having an equitable stake within our decision making institutions.”

1. Operation Black Vote is a non-party political campaign. 2. The term “Black” is a political term. It refers to African, Asian, Caribbean and other ethnic minorities. 3. The Operation Black Vote Shadowing Scheme is the first to specifically target ethnic minorities.