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Pros And Cons Of A Lay Magistrate Court

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Magistrates court

Introduction
In this report I am going to be talking about magistrate courts. I will be looking at the advantages and disadvantages of magistrate courts. I will also be looking at what people are in a magistrate court and what kind of cases magistrate courts hear.

Selection

Lay Magistrates are part time judges. They don’t need any qualifications to be a Lay Magistrate. In order for someone to become a magistrate they must fill in a form. This form could be found on www.direct.gov.uk website. There are about 25,000 Lay Magistrates sitting as part time judges in the magistrate courts. Justices of the peace is another name for Lay Magistrates. Two or 3 magistrates sit on every court. A single magistrate sitting on their own has very limited powers to what they can do/say in court. They can issue search/arrest warrants if necessary. They can also conduct early administrative hearings. Magistrates have to work 26 and a half days a year. Lord chancellor is the one who chooses if someone can be a Magistrate or not.

The 6 qualities that are needed to become a Lay Magistrate are:

1)Good character
2)Understanding and communication
3)Social awareness
4)Maturity and sound temperament
5)Sound judgement – to think logically
6)Commitment and reliability …show more content…

The court wants a magistrate with a good character because a magistrate has an important role and they don’t want a magistrate who has a bad record. This is because a magistrate can make a wrong decision for the defendant which could affect his life. By a good character it means that the magistrate should have a clean record, minor offences will be ok for magistrates. However if a magistrate commits a criminal offence whilst being a magistrate then he/she will be removed from being a

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