An Update: Who's Who in the Magistrates' Court

Last December we wrote an article introducing the key characters in the Magistrates' Court.

In that article we embedded an HMCTS produced animation to help illustrate those different roles. The animation was chosen for no other reason than it was available and easy to understand.

Unfortunately, as alluded to in the text of our initial article, the animation omitted to mention the important role of the National Probation Service in the Magistrates' Court. This omission was noticed and commented on by some of our readers. Those readers were right to express concerns at the omission of the NPS.

Briefly, for the benefit of anyone who doesn't already know, NPS officers are present in the Magistrates' Court to advise on the most appropriate sentencing options for particular offenders. They also report back to the court on the levels of engagement and compliance of offenders sentenced to community orders and requirements.

Mark Leech, journalist and author of The Prisons Handbook, recently submitted a Freedom of Information request to HMCTS in relation to the production of the animation.

In its response, which can be read in full on the WhatDoTheyKnow website, the Ministry of Justice confirmed that the animation was produced in-house by its communications team and therefore incurred no additional expense.

The animation was produced in support of a poster by the same name, Who's Who in the Magistrates' Court.

The NPS has been consulted about an update to the animation and poster. New versions have been produced, which include the important mention of probation officers and wording suggested by NPS.