Helen Wright - Magistrate
Helen Wright, Justice of the Peace and Magistrate
Helen served as a magistrate in Dundee District Court for 18 years from 1982
- 2000
After 2001, members of the council were no longer permitted to be magistrates after changes were made to structure of the courts system in Scotland. Whilst chair of the magistrates association in Scotland, Helen was a member of Lord Cullen's committee that reviewed the court system in Scotland. Changes introduced stopped the long-standing practice of each local authority operating local courts. As well as possible benefits in centralising the system, an argument was also made that there was a possible conflict of interest where members of the council also sat as magistrates and for local councils to run courts.
In Dundee City Council, Helen holds the title Bailie Helen Wright; she is the only remaining person who served as both a councillor and a magistrate and, prior to 1975, would have been given this title as it applied to councillors who were also magistrates.
In earlier days, a Bailie was typically a magistrate in a burgh - the Concise Scots Dictionary defines the word 'Bailie' as "a town magistrate next in rank to the Provost, since 1975 used only as a courtesy title by certain local authorities". The name Bailie was derived from the old French word Bailli. The medieval bailies served the kings of France where the bailie was responsible for the application of justice and control of the administration and local finances in his bailiwick (baillage). There have been various spellings of the name including baillie, bailie, baile, and baille.
The office and duties of the Bailie were abolished by law in 1975. The appellation "Bailie" was resurrected by Dundee City Council in 2003 and is now usually given to the longest-standing elected members of the council as a courtesy and cermonial title that no longer has any other significance or connection with the justice system. Bailies are now typically called upon to assist the lord provost with civic duties and deputising when required at ceremonial functions and events. Helen is referred to formally as Bailie Helen Wright - but known to everyone inside and outside the council as Helen!
Helen's time as a magistrate, together with her long service as a prison visitor and her position as convenor of Social Work, provided her with valuable experience in later roles in criminal justice where she was chair of the Tayside Community Justice Authority and later chaired the national association formed to represent all eight CJAs in Scotland. Helens work in the justice system included the following:
