The Magistrates' Courts Committees (Constitution) (Amendment) Regulations 2001

Amendments to the 1999 Regulations

2.  For regulation 5 there shall be substituted the following regulation—

“5— (1) In this regulation “bench” means the justices assigned to a petty sessions area including a District Judge (Magistrates' Courts) for the area for which he is for the time being acting as a justice.

(2) The justices for each committee area shall, in accordance with this regulation, establish a selection panel, which shall be responsible for selecting the members of the committee for the area.

(3) The justices' chief executive shall act as clerk to the selection panel.

(4) The selection panel shall consist of—

(a) in the case of a committee area containing a single petty sessions area, four representatives of the bench;

(b) in the case of a committee area containing two or three petty sessions areas, two representatives from each bench; and

(c) in the case of a committee area containing four or more petty sessions areas, one representative from each bench.

(5) No justice shall be eligible for appointment to the selection panel if his name will be entered in the supplemental list—

(a) in the case of appointments commencing on 1st January 2002, before 31st December 2004; and

(b) in any other case, before the expiry of the period for which, but for this sub-paragraph, he would be appointed.

(6) The representatives shall be appointed as each bench thinks fit, but—

(a) may only remain on the panel while remaining members of the bench; and

(b) may not be selected as members of the committee during the period of appointment.

(7) Subject to paragraph (15), the first members of the selection panel appointed after 31st August 2001 shall hold office for a term commencing on 1st January 2002 and ending on the dates specified in the table below—

Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4
Number of members of selection panel	Term of office to end on 31st December 2002	Term of office to end on 31st December 2003	Term of office to end on 31st December 2004
4	1 member	1 member	remaining members
5 or 6	2 members	2 members	remaining members
7, 8 or 9	3 members	3 members	remaining members
10 or more	4 members	4 members	remaining members

(8) All subsequent appointments shall, subject to paragraph (15), be for a period of three years commencing on 1st January next after the appointment.

(9) A member of the selection panel shall, subject to paragraphs (5) and (6), be eligible for reappointment.

(10) The names of members of the selection panel to take office on 1st January in any year shall be notified to the clerk to the selection panel by 31st December in the preceding year.

(11) As soon as practicable after 31st December 2001, and in any case no later than 28th February 2002, the members of the selection panel who take office on 1st January 2002 shall hold a meeting. At that meeting the length of the terms of office of those members may be agreed between them, and if not agreed, shall be determined by lot conducted by the clerk to the selection panel.

(12) As soon as practicable after 1st January each year, the members of the selection panel shall choose from amongst themselves a chairman to serve until the following 31st December.

(13) A quorum of the selection panel shall be constituted by three members.

(14) If a casual vacancy on a selection panel arises, the name of a replacement representative from the bench that nominated the representative being replaced may be notified to the clerk to the selection panel, but there is no obligation to do this unless the selection panel would otherwise be inquorate.

(15) A replacement representative shall serve only for the remaining part of the period for which the representative he replaced was appointed.”