Magistrates Court Cases

Magistrates pass the most serious crimes (e.g. murder, rape and robbery) to the Crown Court. Magistrates decide if the defendant should be:

A paralegal should not sign papers on the name of the lawyer he or she is working. This is potentially a violation of any applicable laws or rules of civil procedure that require a lawyer signature on particular documents. “Under no circumstances should an attorney permit a nonlawyer employee to sign the attorney's name, together with the nonlawyer's initials, to notices of hearing and other pleadings.” (Professional Ethics of the Florida Bar, Opinion 87-11). Under the Rules of Professional Conduct (Chapter 4, Rules Regulating the Florida Bar), an attorney may delegate functions to a nonlawyer employee so long as the attorney supervises and retains responsibility for the work. Rule 4-5.5, Comment. A paralegal can only place the lawyer’s signature electronically with the consent of the lawyer and only after the document has been reviewed by the lawyer. (Professional Ethics of the Florida Bar, Opinion 87-11 (Reconsideration).

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.

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).

These individuals do not have the qualifications in which other magistrates have which will require lay magistrates to receive basic training in order to process making decisions towards sentences. With their lack of knowledge this may result in

That same day I headed down to the magistrate court I had been here before. This court is more of assembly line justice sine each case is probably like 5 minutes long. The judges name was locatell. The first case I heard was a male he was being charged with reckless driving. The judge then tells him that is a 5 day minimum in jail. At this point u enter a plea he entedred a not guilty plead. After he please there is a bench trail and there will be a posector and see what you sentence will be and the cop that issued the ticket will be there so that both stories can be heard. What I also noticed at this court is that you don’t have to be dressed up you can show up like you just rolled out of bed.

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 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.

However, under further analysis, it becomes apparent that the verdict acts more as a deterrent rather than an upstanding legal configuration. The legal system, for the average person in New South Wales, is only a figure of authority that deters the individuals from breaking the law, which some may say is what it is there to do. Conversely, we need it to do more than that, we need it to properly meet our requests when we are involved in legal

The Courts and Judiciary of the victorian times were stern like today but had a poor system. The Magistrate decided what to do to the accused. If the Magistrate felt there was no case to answer, he could discharge the suspect. If the case was minor, the Magistrate could have the offence ‘summarily’ tried before two other

Other cases that were observed through court visits further emphasised the nature of the judicial process in the Local Courts. The summary proceedings served in a number of cases to emphasise the triviality of the process. Cases involving minor offences such as traffic offences and petty theft were particularly trivial however other cases such as domestic violence and minor assault charges were not so inconsequential. They were of particular importance to the parties involved and it is thus important not to overgeneralise the process of the lower courts to being mere triviality. Whilst in the local courts there was an emphasis on speed and efficiency, this did not automatically mean that strict legality was disregarded. The importance placed on evidence and onus on the prosecutors in providing proof upheld important elements of the criminal justice system.

The Victorian Court System was made up of many different parts, including the three different courts, the different juries, and the lawyers. There were three different courts: the Petty Court, the Assize Court and the King’s/Queen’s Bench. Each of the three courts functioned to serve a different purpose, and worked together to hold all of the trials. There were also different court sessions, which included Petty Sessions, Quarter Sessions, Borough Sessions, and City Councils, all of which served different purposes. In addition to the courts and court sessions, there were also the two different juries and the different lawyers. All of these components of the court were very important to the trials, and made the court what we know it as today.

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.

Unlike other members of the judiciary, their role and functions have limitations. As individuals, lay magistrates may authorise search and arrest warrants, but mainly their functions are performed as a bench of three. This may include hearing applications for bail or be in charge of committal proceedings. In trial, they decide the facts, the sentence and the law, though the concluding is under the advice of the justice's clerk.

On Friday, April, 4, 2014, I observed the Vanderburgh County Superior Court to observe different family law cases. The cases I heard involved contempt of court for failing to pay child support, failure to appear for a court appointed drug test, birth certificate affidavit, request for contest hearing time, and an issue of paternity case. Magistrate Judge Sheila M. Corcoran was presiding over the family court hearings. When entering the courthouse, I was greeted by security and advised to remove any cell phones, and/or, any other items that would trigger a metal detector. After this, I proceeded straight to look for the family courtroom. After roaming around mindlessly for a couple minutes, I decided to ask the courthouse officer monitoring