Becoming a Magistrate in England and Wales: Qualifications, Pay, Remote Participation and Whether It Counts as QWE

Written by Editor

Disclaimer: This article is for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal, careers or professional regulatory advice. Magistrate recruitment requirements, court arrangements and Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) requirements may change. Prospective applicants should check current information from GOV.UK, HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), the Judiciary and the SRA before making decisions.

Could Becoming a Magistrate Help an Aspiring Lawyer Build Valuable Legal Experience?

For law students and aspiring solicitors, gaining meaningful exposure to the justice system can provide experience that cannot always be obtained from textbooks alone.

One opportunity that may be overlooked is becoming a magistrate, also known as a Justice of the Peace (JP).

Magistrates are volunteers who make judicial decisions in courts across England and Wales. Interestingly, applicants do not need to possess a law degree or be qualified lawyers.

For aspiring solicitors, this raises several questions:

What exactly does a magistrate do?
Do you need qualifications?
Are magistrates paid?
Can disabled magistrates participate remotely?
Could serving as a magistrate count towards Solicitors Regulation Authority Qualifying Work Experience (QWE)?
And, even if it does not constitute QWE, could it strengthen a future legal career?

What Is a Magistrate?

A magistrate is a trained volunteer judicial office holder who hears cases and participates in making decisions in the courts of England and Wales.

Magistrates are not required to be solicitors, barristers or professional judges.

In criminal proceedings, magistrates commonly sit as a bench of three, although there are circumstances in which different arrangements apply. They receive legal and procedural advice from qualified legal advisers.

Almost all criminal cases begin in the Magistrates’ Court.

Depending upon the case, magistrates can make decisions concerning matters such as bail, guilt, fines, community sentences and imprisonment within the sentencing powers available to the Magistrates’ Court.

More serious criminal offences may be sent to the Crown Court.

Magistrates may also sit in the Family Court, dealing with important matters involving children and families.

The position therefore carries genuine judicial responsibility.

Do You Need a Law Degree to Become a Magistrate?

No.

Formal legal qualifications are not required to become a magistrate.

Applicants are instead assessed on their personal qualities and their ability to perform the judicial role fairly and effectively.

Relevant qualities include the ability to:

Understand different perspectives;
Communicate appropriately;
Analyse information;
Make reasoned decisions;
Act fairly and impartially;
Behave professionally;
Demonstrate good character;
Work with others; and
Remain willing to learn.

Successful applicants receive training to prepare them for their responsibilities.

For a law student, existing knowledge of law may certainly be useful, but possessing a law degree is not a prerequisite.

This reflects an important principle behind the magistracy: the people making decisions within the justice system should come from a broad range of communities, professions and backgrounds.

Do Magistrates Get Paid?

Magistrates are not salaried judicial employees.

They perform the role voluntarily and do not receive a conventional wage for sitting as a magistrate.

However, qualifying expenses and financial-loss allowances may be available.

Depending upon individual circumstances, these can potentially include:

Loss of earnings;
Travel expenses;
Subsistence;
Childcare; and
Other qualifying dependant-care expenses.

Self-employed people may also be able to claim an allowance where carrying out magistrate duties causes a genuine loss of income.

It is important to distinguish these payments from a salary. They are allowances intended to reduce the financial disadvantage that might otherwise arise from performing public judicial duties.

Applicants should check the current allowance rates before relying upon a particular figure because rates can change.

How Much Time Does a Magistrate Have to Commit?

Magistrates are generally expected to undertake a minimum number of sittings each year, alongside the training required for the role.

Current recruitment information generally describes a commitment of at least 13 days per year, equivalent to approximately 26 half-days.

There is also training, preparation and continuing development to consider.

Consequently, applicants should look beyond the fact that the position is voluntary and consider whether the commitment can realistically fit around employment, self-employment, education, caring responsibilities and health.

Can Magistrates Participate in Court Remotely?

This requires a more nuanced answer than simply saying that magistrates must always be physically present in a courtroom.

Remote participation is an established part of the modern courts and tribunals system.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has published a specific Remote Participation Approach, explaining that remote participation enables people to participate in hearings without necessarily being physically present in the same room as other participants.

Courts and tribunals can therefore operate through:

Physical hearings;
Hybrid hearings, where some participants attend physically and others remotely; and
Fully remote hearings.

HMCTS explains that remote participation can provide an accessible alternative for vulnerable participants who cannot attend physically and can provide flexibility where circumstances such as illness or travel difficulties affect attendance.

Importantly, remote participation is not automatically limited to witnesses or members of the public.

Judicial proceedings may involve different combinations of remote and physically present participants, depending upon what is considered appropriate for the particular hearing.

This means that it would be inaccurate to state categorically that magistrates can never participate remotely.

Does This Mean Someone Can Become a Completely Remote Magistrate?

Not necessarily.

There is an important distinction between saying:

“Magistrates can participate in remote court proceedings.”

and saying:

“A person can be appointed as a magistrate on the basis that they will never be required to attend a physical court.”

The first proposition is supported by the existence of remote and hybrid court proceedings.

The second is considerably more complicated.

Decisions concerning the mode of a hearing are judicial and operational decisions. Remote participation will not necessarily be suitable for every case, hearing or participant.

A prospective magistrate who cannot physically attend court should therefore not assume either that they are automatically excluded or that a fully remote appointment will automatically be available.

Instead, the question should be raised directly during the recruitment process.

Remote Participation and Disabled Magistrates

The issue becomes particularly important for disabled applicants.

HMCTS expressly recognises accessibility when considering remote participation.

Remote technology can potentially remove barriers for people who might otherwise experience considerable difficulty accessing a physical court environment.

Separately, the Ministry of Justice has a reasonable-adjustments framework covering judicial office holders, including magistrates.

Under the Equality Act 2010, reasonable-adjustment duties are an important consideration where a disabled person would otherwise experience substantial disadvantage.

A disabled prospective magistrate who cannot attend a physical court should therefore consider asking whether remote participation could form part of their reasonable adjustments.

For example, an applicant could ask:

“I am a disabled applicant and, because of my disability, I am unable to attend a physical court location. I understand that HMCTS supports remote and hybrid hearings. Would it be possible for me to undertake magistrate duties remotely as a reasonable adjustment, or are there elements of the role for which physical court attendance is mandatory?”

Obtaining a written answer before proceeding with an application could prevent both the applicant and the recruitment team from investing considerable time in an appointment that ultimately cannot accommodate the individual’s circumstances.

The Judiciary Is Considering Greater Remote Participation

Remote participation should not simply be regarded as an emergency measure left over from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The courts continue to develop their approach to remote justice.

In June 2026, the Judiciary announced work on revised remote-participation guidance for the criminal courts, including the Magistrates’ Courts.

The stated intention includes encouraging greater use of remote participation and identifying categories of hearings that should ordinarily be conducted remotely.

This is particularly significant because it demonstrates that the direction of court modernisation continues to include remote and hybrid participation.

However, greater use of remote hearings does not automatically create a right for every judicial office holder to perform every aspect of their role from home.

Individual circumstances, judicial requirements, the nature of proceedings, fairness, technology and the interests of justice all remain relevant.

Could Remote Magistracy Improve Access to Judicial Roles?

The development of remote courts also raises a wider equality question.

Traditional assumptions that judicial work must always take place inside a physical courtroom can potentially create barriers for talented disabled people who are capable of analysing evidence, applying the law and exercising sound judgement but cannot easily travel to court.

Where technology can remove those barriers without compromising justice, confidentiality, security or procedural fairness, remote participation may help broaden access to public and judicial service.

That could ultimately contribute to a magistracy that better reflects the communities it serves.

Would Being a Magistrate Count Towards Solicitor QWE?

Aspiring solicitors should be particularly careful with this question.

Under the SQE route, candidates generally need to complete two years of full-time or equivalent Qualifying Work Experience.

The SRA permits considerable flexibility in how QWE is accumulated.

It can potentially include paid or voluntary legal work and can be completed across up to four organisations.

However, QWE must involve the provision of legal services and provide opportunities to develop the competences expected of solicitors.

This creates an important distinction for magistrates.

A magistrate is performing a judicial function.

They are deciding cases rather than acting as a solicitor, representing clients or ordinarily providing legal services to another person.

Consequently, magistrate service should not automatically be treated as QWE simply because it involves courts, legislation and legal decision-making.

There is also the separate requirement for qualifying experience to be appropriately confirmed in accordance with SRA rules.

Anyone hoping to rely upon magistrate service towards QWE should therefore seek clarification from the SRA rather than assuming that the experience qualifies.

If It Does Not Count as QWE, Is Being a Magistrate Still Valuable?

Absolutely.

There is an important difference between experience that satisfies an SRA regulatory requirement and experience that develops somebody into a stronger legal professional.

Serving as a magistrate could potentially develop skills including:

Analysing evidence;
Identifying relevant facts;
Applying legal principles;
Understanding court procedure;
Listening to competing arguments;
Assessing credibility;
Exercising impartial judgement;
Providing reasons for decisions;
Working collaboratively;
Understanding sentencing;
Appreciating procedural fairness; and
Understanding how law operates in real cases involving real people.

For somebody studying law, this could provide an unusually valuable perspective.

Could It Strengthen a Legal CV?

Potentially, yes.

Appointment as a magistrate represents genuine public responsibility.

For somebody subsequently seeking legal research, solicitor QWE, training opportunities or other legal work, magistrate experience could demonstrate practical competencies extending beyond academic legal study.

It may be particularly relevant to people interested in:

Public law;
Criminal justice;
Family law;
Human rights;
Disability rights;
Equality law;
Social justice; and
Access to justice.

An aspiring solicitor could therefore potentially combine conventional QWE with magistrate service.

The QWE would fulfil the regulatory experience requirement, while magistrate service could provide additional judicial and decision-making experience.

That combination could create a distinctive professional profile.

Should Disabled Law Students Rule Themselves Out?

No.

Someone who cannot routinely attend a physical workplace should not automatically conclude that the magistracy is inaccessible to them.

Remote participation exists within HMCTS, accessibility is an express consideration, and reasonable adjustments are relevant to disabled judicial office holders.

However, applicants should establish before committing to the recruitment process whether their particular adjustment requirements can be accommodated throughout the duties associated with their appointment.

The correct question is therefore no longer:

“Can a magistrate work remotely?”

A more accurate question is:

“To what extent can this particular magistrate appointment and its required sittings be undertaken remotely, and could remote participation be agreed as a reasonable adjustment?”

That distinction matters.

Conclusion

Magistrates perform an important judicial function within England and Wales without needing to be qualified solicitors or barristers.

They are volunteers rather than salaried judges, although qualifying expenses and financial-loss allowances may be available.

For aspiring solicitors, magistrate service should not automatically be regarded as SRA Qualifying Work Experience because performing a judicial function is fundamentally different from providing legal services.

Nevertheless, the experience could offer substantial professional value.

Perhaps most importantly, developments in remote participation mean that people with disabilities affecting their ability to travel should not automatically rule themselves out.

HMCTS already operates physical, hybrid and fully remote hearings, while the Judiciary continues to develop its approach to remote participation within the criminal courts.

That does not mean that a magistrate is guaranteed a completely home-based role.

It does mean that the position is considerably more nuanced than assuming that all magistrates must always sit physically inside a courtroom.

For a disabled applicant, the most appropriate approach may therefore be to ask the recruitment team directly whether remote participation could be accommodated as a reasonable adjustment before deciding whether to proceed.

As technology changes the administration of justice, accessibility should remain part of the conversation about who is able to participate in it.