Sareena Sanger is a 21 year old British born Asian woman from Leyton in the east London borough of Waltham Forest. She’s studying for a law degree and has a track record in community and youth work.
The documentary charts her journey through a six month training programme to become a magistrate. It’s run by Operation Black Vote and has the backing of the Department of Constitutional Affairs. It’s aimed at recruiting magistrates from the minority ethnic communities to make the courts more representative of the people they serve. In Waltham Forest, one in three of the population is non-white. The borough has 101 magistrates, of whom only eight are Asian.
The documentary takes a hard look at the issues this raises – those of justice, race and inclusion - which are at the heart of the Asian community. Sareena will be asking whether justice can effectively be seen to be done if those dispensing it are generally perceived to be white, middle-aged and middle-class.
At the age of 21, Sareena will find out whether, at the end of her training, she’ll be considered to have the necessary judgment, maturity and commitment to take on the responsibilities of becoming a magistrate.
Presented by: Sareena Sanger
© MMX
Read what others have said..
Dev Das, Doncaster
Well done Sareena.I shall be retiring from the Magisteracy later this year.I am sure you would do very well.It's commitment that matters.It gives me great pleasure to note that so many Asian are coming forward to serve the community we live in.Best of luck. Dev
Adrienne Hasler Waltham Forest Court
I am the Chairman of the Bench at Waltham Forest Court. I was elected to represent the whole of my Bench of 102 members. 21 Black (African or Caribbean)10 men, 11 women. 11 are of Asian origin, 3 are women. Waltham Forest Bench properly reflects the population of the Borough in ethnicity. When Huw Richards (Bench Legal Manager) spoke to Sereena stating that we ‘only’ had 8 Asian Justices, he went on to say the number of Black magistrates exceeded the Borough population percentage. It is people’s perception of the courts that needs addressing and our participation in Operation Black Vote was to counter these. I find it sad that the editing of the conversations may have left people with the wrong impression about applying to become a Magistrate.The selection process is quite arduous but, we are in a position to change people’s lives for the worse. We surely owe the people who appear before us the greatest possible scrutiny of those who apply to become Magistrates. No decision is ever taken on the basis of ethnicity and I am sure that Sareena’s broadcast was not intentionally suggesting this to be so.
kulveer, america
u r an inspiration to all, i aspire to be just like u one day, u r my absolute hero and idol. i am so glad that someone has taken a stand for the minorties of the world. i hope that u are successful in ur pursuit and am sure u will do ur best to represent the asian community. good luck and i wish u well in ur journey as an aspiring member of the magistrate!!!
Amit, Leicester
Sarena i wish you good luck. I am glad someone has raised the voice to involve minor ethnic representatives in mutidiverse population but i am concerned that Is sarena mature enough to take the responsibility?.I have no doubt about her commitment and training to progress her career in the field of law. However i am in favour, government must think about recruiting magistrates from ethnic population. I hope to get more comments for ambitious Sarena.
Zabina, Birmingham
I just want to say goodluck to, serena! I wish she achieves her goal. A friend of my brothers has become a magistrate, here in birmingham and he is, only 20/21. His an asian and we're all really happy for him. Go for it and i'm sure that you will get the chance!!
Peter Harper, Liverpool
The question of representation on the magistrates' bench should be concerned only with how well panel-members understand the laws of this country, and how well and impartially they are able to apply them; it should not be concerned with the ethnic background of the magistrates. The law is the law, and applies regardless of race, religion or anything else. Cultural understanding is a non-issue. If Sareena is able to perform the duties required of a magistrate without regard to any factors other than those of British law, then I am sure that she will be as favourably-received as anyone else. Regarding the statement that there are "only" 8 of 101 magistrates in Waltham Forest who are Asian: is there any evidence to suggest that the current magistrates are - or have been - applying decisions of guilt or innocence based on ethnic background? If there is, then those responsible should be dismissed from the magistrates' bench; if there is not, then what is the basis for this racist, ageist, classist slur against "white, middle-aged and middle-class" people?
Aslan, London
I have had first hand experience in getting to know Sareena and i know that she will overcome the prejudice of no asian woman magistrates and will serve the community well. I too being a 17 year old male second year college student hoping to do Law at university, would love to experience what Sareena has and hopefully since the barrier of race and judiciary has been broken in terms of representation many more asians will follow in the footsteps of Sareena. I will most definately listen to the programme and will try to generate interest throughout my college on this programme and hopefully achieve success in terms of making young asians aware of the newly available opportunities open to them. Good Luck Sareena xxx
Aslan, London
I have had first hand experience in getting to know Sareena and i know that she will overcome the prejudice of no asian woman magistrates and will serve the community well. I too being a 17 year old male second year college student hoping to do Law at university, would love to experience what Sareena has and hopefully since the barrier of race and judiciary has been broken in terms of representation many more asians will follow in the footsteps of Sareena. I will most definately listen to the programme and will try to generate interest throughout my college on this programme and hopefully achieve success in terms of making young asians aware of the newly available opportunities open to them. Good Luck Sareena xxx
Charlie-Walthamstow [London]
I think Sareena is a great inspiration for everyone out there, not only for her determination in achieving something but for her hard work to the community.. keep it up girl wishing you the best of luck in everything, may you continue to succeed.
Rahim, Southall
I think Sareena should get an opportunity to represent a system which serves justice and should be the primary concern. Diversifying the panel in terms of background only gives rise to an advantage to be able to better serve the primary concern of justice by adding experience in terms of cultural understanding, relating to youth of today due to her age and era of study. Enabling her to practice will show that this countries emphasis on building bridges amongst nations is its fundamental concern and not just theory. Diversity is strength and giving this girl the opportunity to practice will place balance within the statistics of creed and will also give her an opportunity to serve her countries justice system.
Niv Singh, Nottingham
I would first of all like to wish you all the very best in your very successful career. I am too a 21 yr old female studying Law and it is good to see ambition and drive in a person. I hope that you do succeed to become a Magistrate as this will break the mold for the current expectation of what asian, and especially women, should do with their lives (career wise). best of luck, Niv. P.S i am quite surpised that noone else has posted a message however i hope that this encourages other comments!
thebhangradr, Cardiff
I just want to say good luck to Sareena !!! She has worked hard and im sure she will go far