Observation in Magistrate Courts

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Magistrates Court

Observation

This essay will attempt to give a detailed account of an observation in a Magistrates Court.  With reference to history from authors such as Skyrme and official web sites, put together by the magistrates association.  

In the latter part of the twelfth century, in 1195 King Richard I ‘commissioned certain knights to preserve the peace in unruly areas’ (magistrates-association).  Their responsibilities were to the Crown, and included the maintenance of the law and to enforce it as far as possible. From this time on, the Bench, or the Magistrates as we know them now were known as ‘Keepers of the Peace’.  An Act in 1327, made it law that ‘good and lawful’ men were to be ‘appointed in every county to ‘guard the peace’; Justices of the peace still have the power over disruptive and disorderly people.  The power and decisions made are not of a punishment, but more as a deterrent to prevent the offender from recommitting the crime (magistrates-association).  

It was not until 1919 that women were able to become magistrates.  This was when the removal of the Sex Disqualification Act came into practice.  On the 31 December 1919, Mrs Ada Summers, Mayor of Stalybridge became the fist female magistrate.  Then on the first January 1920, at least six other women were appointed to the same post. From year to year this number had significantly increased and so by 1929 ‘all county benches included at least one female magistrate’ (magistrates-association).  Today, magistrates are 45% women compared to the just the 5% of women that are professional judges. (bbc.co.uk)

There are many people that make up the personnel of the Magistrates court. Magistrates do not have to have any legal education, but are to be aware of the current laws in practice, and a member of the state.  Their job responsibilities consists of deciding upon a verdict of guilty or not guilty, sentencing, dismissing and referring cases to higher courts.  The Clerk, or otherwise known as the ‘Legal Advisor’ on the other hand, has to be a qualified solicitor.  The job title entails the clerk to advise the Magistrates on ‘questions of law or mixed law and fact; [and] as to matters of practice and procedure.’  Also to ‘refresh the justices memory as to any matter of evidence and to draw attention to any issues involved in the matters before the court’ (Watkins 1995(Lord Lane 1981)).   The Ushers job involves the keeping of a smooth running court, and to provide the primary level of guest assistance in the seating area (bbc.co.uk).  Also, in any possible way to help the Magistrates in the proceedings of a case.  There are identifiable in their long black cloaks.  The defence lawyers are there to represent the defendant.  They must put forward a case to the Magistrates in support of the defendant’s plea.  The defendant is the person who is alleged to have committed a crime or broken the law.  They may or may not be represented in court by a defence lawyer (Magistrates-association)

The basic trial and sentencing within the magistrate’s court is similar to as follows, taken from Randle (1995).  At first the defendant is sworn in and identified to the court, the defendant then either pleas guilty or not guilty, if the plea is guilty then the case is quite straightforward.  The prosecution will give all the facts of the case and then the case is bought forward to the mitigation.  This involves the ‘details of any previous convictions’ (Randle 1995) being raised by the prosecution. And then the Magistrates give a sentence.  In the event that the defendant’s plea is not guilty, the prosecution gives the opening speech and calls a witness.  The defence then gives their opening speech and the defendant is able to testify.  The defence also, then calls a witness and when all questioning is finished, the defence give a closing speech. It is then up to the Magistrates to decide on a verdict, with the help of the clerk if necessary.  If the defendant is found not guilty they are then allowed to go free, but if, as in most cases that the defendant is found guilty, it is then for the magistrates to decide on a sentence.  Magistrates can hold defendants in jail for anything up to six months, they may be given community service, a fine, or their case may be sent to a higher court.

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The cases that are to be heard in the Magistrates Court are expected to pass through legal system efficiently, and at a very rapid rate.  This is due to the preparation of both the defence and prosecution lawyers, but also, mainly because of the way in which the Magistrates Court is structured.  The cases are not expected to continue for much longer than an hour, which should mean that quite a few cases could be heard in any one courtroom in a day.  Along with this the number of courtrooms was expecting to range between four and six, within ...

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A long and oddly unfocused essay. (Why so much detail on security arrangements?) But largely accurate and written quite clearly. 3 Stars.