Role of Magistrates - Court Report

This report examines the role of magistrates in the UK legal system, focusing on their selection process, qualifications, and responsibilities. It also includes insights from a court visit, providing a practical understanding of the magistrate's court proceedings.

Role of Magistrates – A
court report

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART – A........................................................................................................................................1
PART – B.........................................................................................................................................2
PART – C.........................................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Legal system is a set of procedures and processes used to interpret and enforce law. The
legal system in the UK is administered by the courts. The report gives a brief understanding of
the legal systems and its functions prevalent in the UK. There is also a brief of the information
gathered while attending the court along with the functioning of the court (Abel, 2014).
PART – A
The criminal matters are heard in the Magistrate's courts at first instance. While the
serious criminal matters are sent to the Crown court after preliminary hearing, the less serious
matters or matters of juveniles are tried in the Magistrate's courts. The proceedings in these
courts are presided by the Magistrates, who deal in 3 types of offences – Summary, either-way
(matters which are heard before a magistrate or judge in crown court), and indictable-only
(matters which goes to Crown court).
The members involved in the organisation and operational administration of a
Magistrate's court are explained below:
The cases in the Magistrate's courts are heard by:
 The District Judges are legally qualified judges to whom fees is paid, they hear
the complex and long matters (Greene and Heilbrun, 2013).
 The Deputy District Judges are part time judges, paid, sitting at least for 15 days
in a year.
 The Justices of peace are people living in the locality not having legal
background, dealing with less serious matters of theft, public damages etc. They
sit along with a legal adviser who has knowledge of law. They sit in benches
comprising of three magistrates and are not paid (Judicial System, 2016).
The Justices' Clerks are the legally trained persons in the Magistrate's court who provide
legal advice to the justices on the matters.
The Ushers are court officials responsible for deciding order of cases, secured transaction
of legal documents and inform participants about their turn in the courtroom. Usually only the
ushers wear black robes in the Magistrate's courts.
The Prosecuting Solicitor is the lawyer who represents the case on behalf of the state or
the police department, stating what offence has been committed by the accused.
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The Defence Solicitor is representation on behalf of the defendants. He represents his
client's interests in the court while defending him from the charged offences.
During the court visit it was observed that the trial was for sentencing in a matter
pertaining to rash and dangerous driving. The defendant Mr. Alan Cooper was heard by the court
and he was charged for three different issues. Firstly, for rashly and recklessly driving, second
was driving while talking on his cell phone and thirdly for driving without a driving license as
the license was disqualified in the previous matter till the final hearing. The defendant was found
to be in breach of the court's order given previously while infringing the provisions of the Road
Safety Act, 2006.
The defendant admitted the charges put on him except for the one driving while talking
on the cellphone. The bench keenly heard the matter and after long discussions with the judicial
adviser decided the matter. The defendant' was found guilty of rash and dangerous driving and he
was disqualified from his driving license for a period of eleven months under the Act, 2006, and
his driving license will remain disqualified until he passes a driving test after serving the
disqualification period. He was also imposed a fine of 1000 pounds which included the court fees
and damages.
PART – B
Magistrates – Judicial beasts of burden: The Selection process and their Roles
The expression 'lay people' in law means the involvement of ordinary, legally non-
qualified people in the legal system which ensures that the system becomes fairer. The UK has a
history of involving local people in the legal system. Lay people are mainly part of the
Magistrate's court and the Crown courts as magistrate and jury. In the magistrate's court over
95% of the criminal cases are heard by the magistrates (Goodmark, 2013).
The Lay magistrates play a crucial role in decision making as they have invaluable local
knowledge, they bring in a variety of life experience and they make the process cost effective.
The magistrates are unqualified and are not paid since they volunteer for the work. Generally,
they sit in the benches of three but often the matters could be dealt by a single magistrate.
Qualifications for appointment of magistrate
For becoming a magistrate a person should fulfil certain requirements such as maturity,
sound judgement, social awareness, good character, understanding and communication. There
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are other qualifications for becoming a magistrate which are – a person should be aged between
18-65. There are certain restrictions as well for the appointment of a magistrate which are:
 An individual should not be declared bankrupt or insolvent.
 An should not be convicted for a criminal offence (Wigmore, 2015).
The Recruitment and Selection process
The recruitment and selection process of the magistrates is primary responsibility of the
Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor which is further delegated to the local
advisory committees. The local advisory committees conduct the appointment procedure
accordingly in their areas through interview and the selected candidature is recommended to the
Senior Presiding Judge. The Senior Presiding judge then appoint the magistrate on the Lord
Chief Justice's stead. The duration of the appointment process varies depending on the factor
such as number of applications received, lasting from a few months to a year (Wang, 2014).
Interview
The person who applies for becoming a magistrate has to go through interviews which
are held in two stages. The interview is conducted through a three membered panel by the local
advisory committee. The first stage of interview focuses on the contents of the application. The
social awareness and knowledge is judged in this interview along with good character and
background of the applicant. The second stage of interview tests whether an applicant has
judicial aptitude or not.
References
The applicant is required to give at least three references for character. The references or
the referees should know the applicant to form an opinion whether the applicant fulfils the key
qualities for appointment (Eades, 2014).
Post interview assessment
The interviews does not ensure that the person will be appointed as the magistrates are
solely appointed on merits. The panel score the applicant after the interviews and take a decision
on the recommendations to be made.
Disclosure and Barring Service clearance
The recommended applicants have to undergo a DBS check arranged by the local
advisory committee to ensure there are no criminal charges or records of the applicants.
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The individuals qualifying are appointed by the Lord Chancellor on behalf of the Queen
on the basis of the recommendations of the local committee. The magistrates are to be present in
the court for a minimum of 13 days or 26 half days in a year. The magistrates are entitled to
allowances such as travel etc.
Training
The magistrates are recruited in areas depending on the amount of work of a court in that
area. Once appointed as a the magistrate, the individuals are subject to training which is a
continuous process. The new magistrates are assigned to mentor who looks into their personal
development and records their progress. They go through various sessions before they hear their
first case as a bench.
Role of magistrates
Now the magistrate's are called the 'justices of peace', a concept which is prevalent in the
judicial system of England and Wales from past 650 years. The role of magistrates have changed
over the years with the changing community and society but the quality of the fairness in
delivering justice has remained same ever since. The justices of peace form an integral part of
the modern summary judicial system as they deal with around 95% of the criminal matters. The
magistrates are also integral to the system as the cases resolved by them are often not appealed.
In the year 2017, the magistrate resolved and heard 19 out of 20 defendants and only 6% cases
were gone and heard by the Crown court (Chung and et. al., 2012).
The justices also deal with the civil matters as they also sit as the judges in the family
courts looking into the matters of welfare of children and their upbringing. And, from September
2017 the individuals can directly apply to the family courts to become magistrates in three areas
of England and Wales.
In the changing society the role of magistrates is becoming more integral as their
involvement have always remained the centre of criminal justice system. The magistrates deal
with around 90% of the criminal cases and cost only 1% of Her Majesty's courts and tribunals
budget. The magistracy has always remained the heart of the UK's legal system and there are
many reformative steps taken by the authorities to ensure more recruitment of the magistrates
from every walks of the society especially the under-represented communities. This clearly
suggests that the magistrates are not the judicial beasts of burden but actually the heart and soul
of the criminal justice system and a reflection of society.
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PART – C
The court visits are pivotal for any law student as they are informational and educational.
While reading law through the texts as a part of curriculum the students might not be able to
retain the provisions but once the same in experienced in person while visiting courts makes a
lasting impression. A student can see law in action and learn which could be lost while just
reading texts.
The court visits also provides an understanding of the legal system and its functions
which are in practice. As mentioned earlier the legal system in the UK is administered by the
courts, and the court visits helps in developing a understanding of all the levels of the court and
forums from the supreme court to the county courts, tribunals, magistrates' courts etc.
I visited a magistrates court in London and it helped me in understanding the persons
involved in the organisation, which are the Justices, judicial advisors or clerks, usher,
prosecuting and defence solicitors, their duties and responsibilities. I also got to understand the
working of the court, for instance, when the bench sits and defendant comes forward and
introduce himself etc. Going to a court and observing not only gave an insight of the practical
side of law but also helped me in learning the legal etiquettes and ethics followed by the
barristers and solicitors. As I went in the starting of the court, I got to observe how a case was
opened by the solicitors and how charges were read out and even though the public gallery was
full of people still how keenly the justices were managing the work.
Also, if one could not decide as to which path should be taken while making a career in
law then the court visits are helpful in narrowing down the options, for instance, whether to
practice in criminal law or civil law. The court visits are not only helpful in narrowing down
career option they are exceptionally educative and makes the students understand how law of the
land has evolved with the changing times. All the learning could be applied to the academics as
well as going to courts helped me in working upon improving the quality of my legal arguments,
both oral and written. I've also observed that the magistracy is an integral part of our criminal
justice system, as the justices reflect the society and depicts how well an individual can be play a
role in our legal system.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion it can be stated that legal system in the UK is administered by the court and
there is a hierarchy followed in the courts. The Magistracy is integral in the justice system of the
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UK as they are reflective of the country's summary justice system. The court visits help in
understanding the legal system as it makes one familiar with the practical aspects of law.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Abel, R. L. ed., 2014. The Politics of Informal Justice: Volume 2: Comparative Studies (Vol. 2).
Elsevier.
Chung, K.H. and et. al., 2012. Corporate governance, legal system, and stock market liquidity:
Evidence around the world. Asia‐Pacific Journal of Financial Studies . 41(6). pp.686-
703.
Cownie, F., Bradney, A. and Burton, M., 2013. English Legal System in Context 6e. Oxford
University Press.
Eades, D., 2014. The politics of misunderstanding in the legal system: Aboriginal English
speakers in Queensland. In Misunderstanding in Social Life (pp. 207-234). Routledge.
Goodmark, L., 2013. Transgender people, intimate partner abuse, and the legal system. Harv.
CR-CLL Rev.48.p.51.
Greene, E. and Heilbrun, K., 2013. Wrightsman's psychology and the legal system. Cengage
Learning.
Wang, P., 2014. Extra-legal protection in China: How guanxi distorts China’s legal system and
facilitates the rise of unlawful protectors. British Journal of Criminology .54(5). pp.809-
830.
Wigmore, J. H., 2015. Louisiana: The Story of its Legal System. Tul. L. Rev.90. p.529.
Online
Judicial System. 2016.[Online]. Available
through:<https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/international-visitors-
guide-10a.pdf>.
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