Brentford Magistrates Court

09/12/09

Isleworth crown court

25/11/09

Introduction

The English Law is the legal system used in England and Wales and both use it as the basis of common law. It is applied by various members in a court hearing.

 As well as using common sense,  the judges apply and practise their knowledge of the common law in court hearings to make a decision that will be aimed at justice being served righteously.

The common law in England and Wales can be amended by the members of the Parliament. An example of this may be that the members of the parliament have changed the sentence for murder from being a death sentence to a life sentence.

        England is part of the European Union, the EU consists of countries who use the civil law in their legal system.  As the United Kingdom is part of the European Union, the EU law also exists in the English Law.

Her Majesty's Courts of Justice of England and Wales consists of a hierarchy of various courts.

Below is an example of what the hierarchy of Her Majesty's Courts of Justice of England and Wales looks like:

 

People present at a magistrates court are the 3 judges as well as the jury, their called the lay magistrates. They are 3 members of the general public who voluntarily sit in a hearing make decisions to conclude justice to the offences committed. There is no requirement for the lay magistrates to have any qualification or a background that includes law.

A crown court consists of various people, these are the judge, the jury who consists of 12 members of the general public, the defendant who might be escorted by the police in case they have been sentenced already or a custody officer if the defendant is on bail, and the defendants lawyer,  also the prosecutor and their lawyer is present as well.

I observed a magistrates court and a crown court. Both had different cases which could make a deep impact on both the defendant’s lives, depending on what the final decisions were.

Magistrates’ court

The people present at the court hearing were the defendants, and there were 3 lay  magistrates who were the judges as well as the jury as they made the decision. At the magistrates court hearing, the defendant had the chance to plead his case over the offence of driving a car without insurance.  It has been said that the defendant has been pulled over by the police. The defendants details have been noted by the police and they have said that they would get in contact with him. He received correspondence at home and was asked to attend court. The lay magistrates asked the defendant a series of questions in regards to his offence. After serious consideration the lay magistrates decided to give him a fine of £420 and to deduct six points from his licence. Although the defendant pleaded for their leniency, by considering the fact that he needed his license in order to work. Therefore they came to the conclusion that the fine was sufficient.  

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The defendant was there on his own trying to defend his own rights and plead his case.

This case that I was observing was a driving offence and was a summary case.

The defendant looked very apologetic as he did not want to lose his ability to drive. He explained that driving was part of his current employment. I felt that the defendant understood that he had to pay his fine as the lay magistrates didn’t deduct 6 further points from his license.

All 3 of the lay magistrates looked as very understanding, and worked very well together. I ...

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