Resident magistrate (Ireland)
In pre-independence Ireland, a Resident Magistrate was a stipendary magistrate appointed to a county to sit among the justices of the peace at Petty Sessions in that county. They were appointed by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
Role
The role of resident magistrate was created on a somewhat trial basis in 1814, and extended to the entire country by the Constabulary Act 1836. The resident magistrate was supposed to sit amongst the justices at Petty Sessions—the courts of summary jurisdiction in pre-independence Ireland—and guide the justices to apply the law impartially. In reality they came to preside at Petty Sessions, and even sit alone without justices. RMs did not need to be legally trained in pre-independence Ireland, and many were ex-British Army officers. The "Resident" referred to the requirement that the magistrate live in the county to which he was assigned.The role was often criticised as being under the influence of the Dublin Castle administration, and Irish politicians often cited the "RM" as really standing for "Removable Magistrate", since they held office at the Lord Lieutenant's pleasure and could be removed.
In some parts of western counties in the later 1800s at the time of the Famine, and then the Land War, it became hard to find enough suitably-educated local magistrates, and so an RM could be sent to help them. He was salaried and they were volunteers.
Alan Bell
On 29 November 1919, the martial law authorities ordered the Sinn Féin Bank to close, and on 2 January 1920, the Dublin Metropolitan Police went to enforce this order. Based on cheques recovered in a DMP raid on 6 Harcourt Street on 27 February 1920, the Attorney-General for Ireland on 2 March 1920 ordered Hibernian Bank and Munster and Leinster Bank to give evidence at a private inquiry into their relations with the Sinn Féin Bank.The inquiry was led by Alan Bell, a resident magistrate, as part of his broader, mostly secret, search for Dáil funds. The banks' officials were reluctant to co-operate. In March 1920, Bell, from Banagher, County Offaly was killed. He was pulled from a tram in south Dublin and shot at point blank range by Collins' IRA "Squad". He was tasked by the British to track down Sinn Féin funds; he had successfully confiscated over £71,000 from Sinn Féin's HQ and, by investigating banks throughout the country, was set to seize much more.
After Irish independence
The office of Resident Magistrate was a unique institution in the United Kingdom as applied to Ireland. In the 20th century, it evolved into the modern structure seen today in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In both jurisdictions, courts of summary jurisdiction—known as the District Court in the Republic and Magistrates’ Courts in Northern Ireland—are now presided over by legally qualified district judges sitting alone.This system stands in sharp contrast to that of England and Wales, where magistrates’ courts are typically composed of a bench of three lay justices. Only a small number of these courts are staffed by paid, legally trained district judges. Similarly, in Scotland, Justice of the Peace Courts are primarily staffed by lay magistrates.