Effectiveness Of Magistrate 's And Jury System Advantages And Disadvantages

All magistrates begin their magisterial career in the adult court where they deal with crimes which can have the most widespread impact on communities; for example, anti-social behaviour and alcohol-related incidents. Magistrates’ courts are also the first stage in dealing with more serious crimes such as rape and murder, which are then referred on to the Crown Court.

Judge Dee was considered the “Father and Mother Official.” Magistrates function as a judge, jury, prosecutor, and detective. He was the highest power in his district and was in charge of many things. He was in charge of the town, land administration, the tribunal, the bureau for the collection of taxes, the register office, and the public order in the district. Magistrates had to have great moral strength, intellectual power, and refined literati also trained on Chinese letter and arts. Without any of these skills, the magistrate would have failed his job. He would have barely gained any support since these skills were signs of a good leader. The Magistrates were almost miniature monarchs of their own lands. Even though whatever they say is not law, they are able to convict and torture people until they listen. Judge Dee took everything under his control form the detective work to sentences. He used lieutenants and constables to help out, but most work was done single-handedly. No one else I the district has more power than him. A few magistrates in the book even had their own private army for example; the magistrate in Turnip Pass had a garrison to protect the area from criminals. Magistrates are supposed to be truth-seeking men. Judge Dee is obviously truth seeking because he tries to see why the husband died in “The Strange Corpse” even though no one filed a complaint, he did this for righteousness, which is looked for in

These are trained, unpaid members of the public within their local community. They work part time (26 days a year). On the other hand, juries are also unpaid people but it is their duty to fulfill the job. Magistrates deal with summary offence such as theft, nuisance and motor offending etc. however juries work in the crown court and they decide the facts about the case they are listening whereas a magistrate will pay attention to the law. Juries sit in a panel of 12 and decide if the verdict is guilty or not whereas magistrates sit in a panel of 3 and decide the law and give an appropriate

A magistrate is some one who is not paid or is qualified and is only seen in the magistrate’s court which oversees summary criminal cases (magistrate hears about 96% of all criminal cases).

Throughout the United Kingdom Lay Magistrates are used within our courts and legal system in relation to sentencing criminals. They work within the Magistrates court dealing with summary offences, triable-either way offences and they also deal with starting off indictable offences which will then be sentenced in the Crown Court. Lay Magistrates come from local areas and when appearing at a court they would usually gather three Lay Magistrates. This is in order for the Lay Magistrates to come together in relation to making a final decision, towards making their final decision they are able to receive guidance from the court clerk

Magistrates because they are not paid, will have to take time off work to attend their duties. Now, in a business environment, an employer may be rather annoyed if an employee had to continuously take time off work to attend their duties and would thus be difficult for that employee-especially if they are not to be paid whilst they are away. This loss of earning may discourage a person from becoming a magistrate. Whereas, if a magistrate is an employer or a senior employee in the business, they will more easily be able to take time off work to attend court. This relates to how they will be middle-aged and middle-minded. The training process is said to have not been adequate or effective enough. They are not in trained in broader ways and therefore lacking full knowledge. A risk with the magistrates is that although they may be able to empathise with the defendant, they are prosecution minded and more likely to believe the police. They may also be heavily reliant upon the clerk when in reality, the clerk can only advise them on certain aspects and interpret difficult points of law. A major disadvantage is the fact that there are inconsistencies within the sentencing of defendants. A defendant in Leeds charged with the same offence as the defendant in Bristol may receive a more lenient sentence. Additionally, the workload of the magistrates is incredibly heavy and would be

The criminal trial process aims to provide justice for all those involved, while it succeeds in the majority of cases, it effectiveness is influenced and reduced by certain factors. These include the legal representation involved in a case and the availability of legal aid, the capacity of the jury assessing the trial, the credibility of scientific evidence and the impact of social media on the trial process. Due to such flaws the criminal trial process is not always an effective means of achieving justice.

Merit –compare and contrast the role of judges ,lawyers and lay people within the English courts.

The role of a lay magistrate is one that is at the core of the legal system in England & Wales. They help maintain the foundation of the criminal justice system and deal with approximately 98% of all criminal matters. The sheer volume of cases that they deal with has helped earned them the title of the workhorses of the criminal justice system.

<br>Another common name for the Magistrates' Court is "the police court". This name was given to this particular court due to the fact that a majority of cases brought before this court involve the police having made an investigation of some kind and laying a charge. The prosecutor in these cases is usually a policeman.

A principle of common law, is that courts are open for public observation (Government of Canada, 2015, para. 1). Because of this principle, people are able to watch the majority of the cases at the Canadian courts, wether they be in youth court, traffic court, criminal court, etc.. There is a lot to learn in a classroom, but there are some things you can only learn from real life experiences, such as observing court in action.

On observing the District Court a number of distinctions from the Local Courts were immediately made apparent. Without going in to detail about the actual structure of the courts, they seemed to fit more closely with the traditional schema of a typical courtroom. In particular the larger courtrooms with more facilities combined with the barristers and magistrates wearing their wig and robes seemed to instantly uphold the ideology of justice. It is interesting to note how appearances can automatically provide an impression that justice will be upheld. The

My reactions to the courtroom observation is that the court house generates allot of money in fines and get the community allot of committee service. They are a lot more player in the courthouse then the book states. The bailiff and other officers that work in the court house are major players in the functions of the court house as well. The secretary is also very important she or he schedules continuing court dates and handles most of the paper work.

The Magistrates’ role was to hear the evidence of distinct cases, criminal or civil matters and decide whether the accused is guilty or not guilty to an offence as charged and decide the penalty that will be given to those that are found guilty or plead guilty to an offence. Moreover, the Magistrate determined whether a case should go to a different court or to adjourn the case to another date.

Lay magistrates are very important to the legal system in England and wales. Lay magistrate’s also known as ‘Justices of the peace’ are volunteers in Magistrates courts as judicial officers. There are 21,500 lay magistrates currently in England and wales. Combined with professional magistrates in a magistrate’s court they take up to 95% of cases involving criminal charges . This essay will be investigating the actual importance of them as well as recommendations on diversifying the bench for the Lord Chancellor.