Law and War: Magistrates in the Great War

The office of justice of the peace has existed since the twelfth century, when ‘good and lawful men’ were first appointed to sit in judgment of their peers. Unpaid and untrained, these lay magistrates were the backbone of the English judicial system, dealing with the vast majority of criminal cases in the police courts and the petty sessions.

By the start of the twentieth century, social attitudes were changing and the magistrates, drawn from the wealthier classes, were seen as out of touch...