A volunteer member of the public who sits as a judge in the family court, usually as part of a bench of two or three magistrates. Magistrates don't need legal qualifications — they're 'lay' people from the community — so they're always assisted in court by a qualified legal adviser who advises them on the law, practice, and procedure. In the family court, magistrates hear a range of private and public law children cases and some financial matters. Their decisions have the same effect as a judge's, but they rely on their legal adviser to ensure those decisions rest on sound legal foundations.
In Plain English
These are trained volunteers from the community who act as judges in family cases. They are not professional lawyers, so they have a legal expert in the room to help them with the rules of law.
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