As was mentioned earlier (chapter 6(iii)), magistrates' courts have jurisdiction over a range of family law matters. This is obviously something which falls outside the general scope of a chapter on the criminal courts, but until day dawns for a unified Family Court (see chapter 6(iii)) it is necessary to deal with this in the general context of the magistrates' courts.

For those who are looking at the English legal system for the first time, it must seem distinctly odd that the magistrates' courts have any jurisdiction in family law matters. Magistrates' courts are primarily criminal courts, family law is primarily civil law and we would therefore expect family law to be a matter for the High Court and the county court, not for the magistrates' courts. The explanation for this jurisdiction is partly historical. As was mentioned earlier (chapter 19(ii)) the magistrates at one time had a large number of administrative functions, and these included the administration of the poor law. As part of this they had power to punish those who failed to maintain their dependants and who ended up a charge on the poor-rate as a result. A section of the poor were illegitimate children, and here the magistrates tried to identify the men responsible for their appearance in the world and make them pay for their upkeep.