# Lay Magistrates (Eligibility) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003, Article 2: Eligibility of persons for appointment as lay magistrates


Unless the Lord Chancellor otherwise determines in the case of a particular person, no person shall be appointed to be a lay magistrate –
(a) if he does not reside or work in, or within 15 miles of, the county court division to which the appointment relates;
(b) if he is a member of –
(i) the House of Commons or the House of Lords,
(ii) the European Parliament,
(iii) the Northern Ireland Assembly,
(iv) the Irish Parliament (Dail Eireann),
(v) the Scottish Parliament, or
(vi) the National Assembly for Wales;
(c) if he has been selected (whether formally or informally) as a prospective candidate for election to any such parliament or assembly;
(d) if he is employed as a paid agent of a political party seeking representation in any such parliament or assembly;
(e) if he is –
(i) a police officer,
(ii) a member of a police reserve,
(iii) a civilian employee of a police force,
(iv) a member or employee of, or a person seconded to, the Northern Ireland Policing Board,
(v) the Director of the Department of Public Prosecutions,
(vi) an employee of the Department of Public Prosecutions,
(vii) the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland,
(viii) an employee of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland,
(ix) a court security officer,
(x) a member of staff of the Northern Ireland Court Service,
(xi) a member of staff of the Northern Ireland Prison Service,
(xii) a probation officer or probation assistant,
(xiii) a member of staff of, or a person seconded to, the Assets Recovery Agency,
(xiv) a member of Her Majesty’s Regular Armed Forces,
(xv) a traffic warden,
(xvi) a store detective,
(xvii) a practising barrister or solicitor,
(xviii) a notary public,
(xix) a sheriff in the same county court division to which the appointment may be made,
(xx) a summons server,
(xxi) a process server,
(xxii) a civil servant,
(xxiii) a social care worker,
(xxiv) an education welfare officer,
(xxv) a member of the Probation Board for Northern Ireland,
(xxvi) a lay or custody visitor to a police station,
(xxvii) a lay visitor to a penal establishment,
(xxviii) a member of a Board of Visitors to a penal establishment,
(xxix) a member of a district policing partnership,
(xxx) a prison after-care worker,
(xxxi) an employee of, or a trained volunteer for, Victim Support,
(xxxii) an employee of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children,
(xxxiii) an employee of the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,
(xxxiv) an employee of, or a trained volunteer for, Relate or a family mediation service who (in each case) carries out his duties in the same county court division to which the appointment may be made, or
(xxxv) a relationship counsellor who carries out his duties in the same county court division to which the appointment may be made;
(f) if he is the spouse or partner of –
(i) a police officer,
(ii) a member of a police reserve,
(iii) a civilian employee of a police force,
(iv) a member of Her Majesty’s Regular Armed Forces,
(v) a member of staff of the Northern Ireland Court Service, or
(vi) a member of staff of the Northern Ireland Prison Service;
(g) if he is the spouse, partner or close relative of –
(i) a judge or magistrate serving in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland,
(ii) the Director of the Department of Public Prosecutions,
(iii) the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland,
(iv) a member of staff of, or a person seconded to, the Assets Recovery Agency, or
(v) a court security officer, a probation officer or probation assistant, a summons or process server, an employee of the Department of Public Prosecutions or a traffic warden who (in each case) performs his duties in the same county court division to which the appointment may be made;
(h) if he is the close relative of –
(i) a police officer,
(ii) a member of a police reserve, or
(iii) a civilian employee of a police force,
who (in each case) performs his duties in the same county court division to which the appointment may be made;
(i) if he, his spouse or partner is a former –
(i) judge or magistrate who served in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland,
(ii) police officer,
(iii) member of a police reserve,
(iv) civilian employee of a police force,
(v) Director of the Department of Public Prosecutions,
(vi) Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland,
(vii) member of staff of the Northern Ireland Prison Service,
(viii) member of staff of, or person seconded to, the Assets Recovery Agency, or
(ix) employee of the Department of Public Prosecutions, probation officer or probation assistant or traffic warden who, where that person is the spouse or partner of the person to which the appointment relates (but not otherwise), has performed his duties in the same county court division to which the appointment may be made,
unless a period of more than two years has elapsed since that person ceased to have such an occupation;
(j) if a bankruptcy order has been made against him or his estate has been sequestrated or he has made a composition or arrangement with, or granted a trust deed for, his creditors; or
(k) if he has been convicted of an offence punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one month.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nidsr/2003/0337951152/article/2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/draft-lay-magistrates-eligibility-northern-ireland-order-2003/article-2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.