Magistrates in civil cases deal with civil matters such as:
-Enforcing council tax demands and issuing warrants of entry and investigation to gas and electricity authorities.
-Family cases including orders for protection against violence and maintenance orders.
-Proceedings concerning the welfare of children under the children act 1989.
-Hearing appeals against the refusal of a licence to sell alcohol.
Magistrates can sentence someone to a maximum of 6 months in prison and up to a £5000 fine in civil cases.
Criminal Cases
These cases include:
Driving offences
Common assault, ABH & GBH
Criminal damage
Theft
Murder
Manslaughter
Rape
Juries use in criminal cases.
Juries will sit in the crown court when deciding a verdict in criminal cases. In these cases the judge will rule on law, and the juries will reach a verdict and decide the sentence. In some of these cases a jury will not be needed if the defendant pleads guilty. The judge in a criminal trial can make the jury acquit a defendant if he feels that the prosecution cannot prove a case ‘beyond all reasonable doubt’. This is called directed acquittal and does not happen often.
12 jurors sit in on a criminal case. If all of the jurors don’t agree on a verdict, there has to be a majority verdict to decide the defendant’s sentence. This was introduced to stop jury nobbling (where the defendants lawyer or anybody affiliated with the defendant tries to intimidate and threaten the jurors).
The decision making process for the jury is extremely secret. The jury is sent to a secluded room where they decide their sentence. All of the confidentiality and secrecy help to prevent jury nobbling.
Juries can sometimes be refused from a criminal trial encase the evidence needs specialist understanding and is too complicated.
Magistrates use in criminal cases.
Lay magistrates deal with 97% of all criminal cases, but effectively they look at 100% with 3% been taken to the high courts.
Magistrates will deal with such things as; controlling hearings, bail applications, committal proceedings, young offenders, issue search and arrest warrants and sentencing. They also deal with criminal cases.
There are three different categories that criminal cases are divided up into. These are:
Summary offences
These are the least serious offences and are always tried in the magistrate’s court. These include cases such as criminal damage and driving offences.
Triable either way offences
These are the middle of the range offences. These crimes include theft and actual bodily harm, or ABH. These crimes can either be tried in the magistrate’s court or the crown court.
Indictable offences.
These are the more serious crimes and are delft with the courts higher up in the court hierarchy, although the magistrates do handle the preliminary hearing. These offences include rape manslaughter and murder.
Magistrates do deal with many different points of criminal law, though the main cases they deal with are summary offences.
Magistrates can give up to 6 months in jail coupled with community service and a fine. The most common punishment is a fine which can be up to £5000 depending on the crime.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I have found out that both magistrates and juries play an important part in the legal system. The use of lay people in law brings across the view point of the ordinary man or women and lets them have a say in our country’s justice. They also deal with the more trivial points of law, letting the legally qualified people to do their job more effectively. Magistrates also deal with 97% of all criminal cases and do the preliminary work for the remaining 3%, again lightening the work load for barristers and solicitors.
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Information on lay magistrates
As I have previously mentioned a lay person is someone who has had no prior legal training. A lay magistrate resides in the magistrate’s court and sits in a panel of three to hear cases. There are about 29,000 lay magistrates sitting as part time judges in the magistrate’s court today. In 1998 the Lord Chancellor set out six key qualities which lay magistrates (or justices of the peace) should have. These include; Good character, understanding and communication, social awareness, maturity and sound temperament, sound judgement and commitment and reliability. They also have to be aged between 18 and 65 on appointment, and live or work near to the local justice area. Magistrates are chosen on these key features. Magistrates are require to work 26 half days, hence the requirement for commitment and reliability.
In criminal cases magistrates will control hearings, bail applications, committal proceedings, young offenders, issue search and arrest warrants and sentencing. In civil cases magistrates will look at the non- payment of council tax or TV licences; They also discuss arrangements for bail applications, committal proceedings, appeals for local grants for alcohol of gambling and debts owed to utilities and warrant issuing Magistrates have limited powers in sentencing because they only support minor offences. Unlike juries magistrates do receive some training.
Appointment of lay magistrates.
Unlike jurors lay magistrates are not picked at random from the electoral role. Instead those wishing to become a lay magistrate have to apply at their local court. You can apply to be a magistrate between the age of 18 and 65, but it is very unusual for people to become magistrates before the age of 27. This is because the role of a magistrate is voluntary and not many people under the age of 27 (probably even older) can afford to become one. Also the magistrate’s position isn’t advertised as much as it should be, consequently hindering people finding out about it.
The local advisory committees look at all of the applications given in to them that they think will be suitable. People who have serious criminal convictions are automatically disqualified from being a magistrate, so are the deaf and blind. This is necessary because there may be evidence that would need to be seen or heard. The local advisory committee then schedules interviews with the prospective magistrates to try and discover if they have the qualities needed. After the interview process they compose a list of suitable candidates that have passed the interview stage. This list is then handed on to the Lord Chancellor who picks the names of those he wants to become magistrates. This process is much criticised and I will go on to it in further detail later on in the essay.
Training
As I have mentioned before magistrates, unlike jurors, do receive some training before they begin their duties (although they are still classed as lay people). This training is supervised by the magistrates committee of the judicial studies board. The training takes four years and consists of seven stages. The first of these seven stages is the initial core training and activities. This stage covers such matters as the understanding of the organisation of the bench and the responsibilities of those involved in the court. It also provides the new magistrate an opportunity to develop the key skills and also to observe court sittings. The second stage is the first sitting. This stages name is really self explanatory. It involves sitting in on a case and having the trainee make their own judgement outside of the court. Then there is the mentored sitting, which is stage three. In this stage of the training the potential magistrate is monitored in a sitting by an already qualified and experienced magistrate. In this sitting they have to keep a personal development log of their progress. Stage four is the consolidation training. This stage of the training takes 9-12 months and consists of judicial studies where the local justice’s clerk will cover each aspect. After this is stage five, the appraisal. In this appraisal, the MCJSB looks at whether or not the trainee has acquired the necessary skills needed to become a magistrate. Then there are the last two stages of the training, the magistrates being able to sit in court and also the three year continuation training followed by another appraisal. The last stage is necessary because the magistrate needs to be kept up to date with the ever-changing law. This goes on for three years and then there is another appraisal. After this period the training becomes less frequent.
Advantages of the lay magistrate
As the above information concludes, lay do have a substantial amount of training so it isn’t really fair to class them as ordinary lay people. The name infers that they know nothing about the law, which is untrue. As magistrates are continually reviewed, their judging and ruling is mostly consistent, bringing about a fair trial and sentence to each defendant. Magistrates also deal with the more trivial points of law, taking charge of 97% of all criminal cases and dealing with the preliminary work on the remaining 3%. This leads to lightening the work load for the legally qualified people who have more substantial cases to be getting on with. Magistrates are also extremely cheap. Because they are voluntary, the government doesn't have to fund their salaries, putting more money back in, to deal with more important tissues. Another advantage is that instead of only having one magistrate (or judge) in a magistrates court three sit on a panel, so different views are brought across. This, again, brings across more consistency in the court room, as if one magistrate seems to be lacking in one particular legal field, the other magistrates can either help them or report them to the MCJSB. The magistrate will also have good local knowledge because, as stated before, an applying magistrate has to live 15 miles or under from the court where they sit. This is invaluable because it gives them some background to the defendant’s case, again, ensuring fairness. The magistrate s will also have a legal clerk on hand to advice them on the finer points of law and because they have had training they are well prepared for each case. The magistrate’s court also has a very low appeal percentage. This means that all parties are usually happy with the outcome of the case.
Disadvantages of the lay magistrate
I think that the most predominant disadvantage is the stereotype that has been associated with the lay magistrate. Because the post of magistrate is voluntary and has a substantial training period of four years, it leads to the assumption that only middle class, white, retired males take up the post. This destroys the point of magistrates being the ‘cross section of society’. It also destroys the argument tat magistrates have a good knowledge of their local area, with wealthier, retired people mainly residing in different areas to the younger slightly poorer people. They may also have a prejudice view of younger people and the lower classes and be prosecution biased, believing the police over the defendant. There is also the argument and criticisms of how the magistrates are chosen, as I pointed out earlier. Because the Lord Chancellor himself picks out potential candidates, the assumption is that he only picks people whom he is friendly with. This is unfair and is greatly criticised. As well as this there is an inconsistency in sentencing and decisions of bail. These normally occur because different magistrates may have different principles depending on where they reside. There is a great deal of inconsistencies between regencies. My last criticism is that of the legal training which lay magistrates receive. Yes, they do get four years training, but is that really enough? Four years cannot teach them all they need to know about the law, when you consider that a solicitor trains for six years and even then they don’t decide whether or not someone is guilty or innocent. They only try and defend their client or prosecute the defendant on their client’s behalf.
Conclusion
In conclusion to the second part of my essay, I would say that magistrates are an important part of our legal system. As I have mentioned before on three occasions, magistrates do deal with a substantial amount of work (97% of all criminal cases and do the preliminary work on the remaining 3%) for free, saving the government millions of pounds which can be used for more important purposes. The opinion that magistrates are under qualified and a stereotype is inconsequential compared to all of the advantages. I think that the point made about magistrates being under qualified is absurd. They train for four years (seven if you count the three year continuation training) and have a legal clerk on hand if they get stuck on the finer points of the law.
