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Judiciary: Harassment

Question for Ministry of Justice

UIN 24330, tabled on 26 January 2016

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many judges or magistrates have reported receiving threatening correspondence related to hearings they have presided over in the last five years.

Answered on

29 January 2016

There are around 20,000 judges and magistrates in England and Wales. The number of judges or magistrates who have reported receiving threatening correspondence related to hearings is as follows:

Year

Number of Judges or Magistrates

2011

20

2012

12

2013

19

2014

18

2015

31

We have a robust security and safety system in place to protect all court users. Any threats to judges or magistrates are taken extremely seriously and within Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service there is a security team to co-ordinate effective judicial security and incident investigation, working closely with senior judiciary and police agencies to provide the necessary support.

Named day
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