Legal adviser
official of the magistrates' court in England and Wales
A legal adviser, formerly referred to as a justices' clerk or clerk to the justices is an official of the magistrates' court in England and Wales whose primary role is to provide legal advice to justices of the peace (also known as magistrates).
History
The office of justices' clerk (or clerk to the justices) is historically linked with the development of the office of justice of the peace in England and Wales from the 12th century. The Justices of the Peace Act 1361 provided, amongst other things, "That in every county of England shall be assigned for the keeping of the peace, one lord and with him three or four of the most worthy of the county, with "some learned in the law", and they shall have the power to restrain the Offenders, Rioters, and all other Barators, and to pursue, arrest, take and chastise them according to their Trespass or Offence". Originally known as "clerk of the peace", "clerk of the justices" or "clerk of the keepers of the peace", the clerk who assisted the justices at Quarter Sessions was required to act as a record keeper and, being a lawyer, to provide legal advice to justices of the peace. However, from Tudor times many justices used their personal servants as their legal advisers out of Quarter Sessions and, in the 19th century, many benches were using local solicitors to advise them in their Petty Sessions work. In 1848, as the summary jurisdiction of justices began to expand at Petty Sessions, so the importance of the role of justices' clerk increased and in 1851 an Act of Parliament allowed justices' clerks' fees to be paid out of public funds for the first time. By the 20th century, there was a preponderance of part-time clerks, which was criticised by the report of the Roche Committee in 1944. This report led to the Justices of the Peace Act 1949 and a move towards full-time clerks.
The role of justices' clerk was abolished by the Courts and Tribunals (Judiciary and Functions of Staff) Act 2018 and the role is now carried out by a legal adviser.
The modern legal adviser
Although their functions have changed considerably over the intervening years legal advisers remain the linchpin of magistrates' courts.
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This entry incorporates text from “Legal adviser” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.