David Lammy hosted the London launch of the Magistrates Shadowing Scheme that saw the appointment of Revinder Johal as the first Asian Woman Magistrate in Birmingham a few weeks ago. The London launch took place on 15 April 2004 at The Royal Society for the Arts. "This scheme was launched nationally almost 2 years ago and sent out a clear statement that the Lord Chancellor viewed the magistracy as a body in which all parts of our communities should be engaged." said Mr Lammy.

"Our commitment, both to the Magistrates Shadowing Scheme and to encouraging people from as wide a section of the public as possible to become magistrates, remains true today." he continued.

"The Magistrates Shadowing Scheme has given people from Black and minority ethnic communities the opportunity to experience life as a magistrate. In its first year the scheme operated in 7 areas and involved 47 people shadowing 94 magistrates. But such has been the success of this venture that 2004 will see 12 regions across the country taking part. That means almost 100 people from BME communities and 200 magistrates working together, exchanging views and sharing experiences.

We cannot overestimate the value of the Magistrates Shadowing Scheme in helping to improve the diversity of the Bench. With the valuable contribution of those of you who are taking part, and with the help of our partners from Operation Black Vote, we can succeed in changing the face of the magistracy.

We have already seen the pilot scheme bear fruit. Georgia Ramsay from Bristol became the first shadow to be appointed as a magistrate last May and, more recently, Mrs Revinder Jahal was sworn in at a ceremony in Birmingham only 10 days ago, (5 April 2004). Many other participants from the first tranche are waiting on the results of applications or have indicated that they intend to apply.

During the pilot scheme the shadows kept journals which were published on the website of Operation Black Vote. I have read a number of their journal entries with great interest. One participant wrote: 'This will have a major influence for those people who are involved in the process, a lot of knowledge and experience can be shared and a positive picture (of the magistracy) portrayed within the Black and Asian community.'

Another said: 'The shadowing scheme has forced me to confront my ethnicity and my Britishness and the part that I play in [that] society? We have so much to offer our communities and I hope the next generation will benefit from the in-roads we make.'

To become a magistrate you need to demonstrate a few key qualities. You must be of good character, sound judgement, mature temperament and have the commitment to be able to attend for a minimum of 26 half days in a year.

These qualities are not the preserve of any one group or class in society. They are found in people who come from all walks of life. They are qualities that you, who are taking part in the Shadowing Scheme, have demonstrated during the selection process. And they are the qualities that the magistrates here today have to show whenever they sit on the Bench.

You may come from different backgrounds, have different faith systems and cultural experiences, but you are fundamentally the same. People who care about their community enough to want to make a difference; people who can bring about that difference by making an essential contribution to the administration of local criminal justice.

In recent years we have undertaken a considerable amount of work to ensure that the magistracy is a microcosm of the community it serves and we continue to look for ways of broadening the makeup of magistrates' benches.

The Magistrates Shadowing Scheme will help us to achieve this aim by giving us the opportunity to encourage more people from our communities to examine the way magistrates work. Hopefully they will then apply to become magistrates, thus enabling the magistracy to benefit from the wide variety of skills, cultures, life experience and backgrounds that can be found in every community throughout our country.

Only by sharing your experiences and passing on what you have learnt will we be able to challenge some of the commonly held misconceptions about the magistracy. Of course, I also hope that most of you will consider applying to become magistrates yourselves."

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