The Justice of the Peace [magistrate`s] Blog:

How to get your name in Hansard.......use a legal title long since replaced by District Judge or state the bleedin` obvious.

I have blogged here more than once that I consider the current eligibility rules for jury service unsatisfactory especially the fact that no quantifiable understanding of the English language is a requirement for sitting in judgement over one`s peers. The overwhelming stampede for so many aspects of our life to be “representative” has IMHO superseded common sense; itself a term which some would consider in itself unrepresentative insofar as what is common to one group might not be so to another.

That some of those with {controlled} mental issues of one sort or another equate their lack of equal opportunities cf physically disabled individuals is a non sequitur. Deciding after hearing all the arguments whether or not the guilt of a defendant has been proved beyond reasonable doubt is an intellectual exercise; if intellect is impaired the task with all its requirements is also impaired as might be the conclusion. A writer in the Independent disagrees.

Another article raises a much more interesting point; whether an admission by a potential jury member of prejudice against certain classes of people constitutes a contempt of court. As almost everyone including magistrates is prejudiced against something or other we can all relate to the individual concerned in spirit if not in practice. As magistrates we are trained to put aside any prejudice we might have when we enter the court building and of course for all the activities we undertake in our position. Failure to do so is probably as serious as it gets. The judge in this matter had before him an intellectual problem of more importance than many of the judgements before our highest courts which are so distant from the ordinary citizen as to be applicable for a man from Mars .