17.Part V of the Act contains a range of provisions relating to magistrates and magistrates’ courts. It:
provides for various changes to the organisation and management of magistrates’ courts, and in particular establishes a single Magistrates’ Courts Authority for Greater London;
unifies the provincial and metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrates into a single bench;
removes the requirement for magistrates to sit on cases committed to the Crown Court for sentence; and
extends and clarifies the powers of civilians to execute warrants - this is intended to enable this function to be transferred from the police to the magistrates’ courts.