The Backbone Of The Criminal Justice System

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.

However like all good systems there are still disadvantages or weakness in the system. These disadvantages are; that most magistrates are over 50 as they have more time as they have retired and have money saved up this being the case it does not show a true reflect of the community but also as they are so old they may have different standards then people to and that they are not keeping up with modern times, also as each have their own religion they may judge them based on that belief. Also with magistrates they can be inconsistent with the sentencing as they may be in a different mood when giving out judgment. Another disadvantage is that as they have not had enough training and that they are not qualified they can be easily influenced by the clerk there for not given a fair sentencing.

John Griffith’s thesis asserted that the English judiciary comprises of judges who as a whole are of ‘a unifying attitude of mind, a political position, to protect and conserve certain values and institutions’. Before the Judicial

The criminal courts are responsible for determining the guilt or innocence of the person that is accused (Griffiths, 2015, p.147). As well as the courts are supposed to conclude the appropriate sentence while protecting their rights of the accused. The outcome that comes from the criminal courts is that the judgement is made to be fair, impartial and no political intrusion. Furthermore, the main focus of the courts is the find the fundamental problems, the interagency and interdisciplinary collaboration and the accountability to the community. (Griffiths, 2015, p.147). The court is supposing to keep the fairness and equality through the society.

Lay magistrates are people that deal with the vast majority of legal cases in the courts. They sit on a bench of two to three magistrates. They are part-time and unpaid, and also unqualified. They have to be aged between 18- 65 and sit 26 and a half days per year. You are unable to become a lay magistrate if you have a serious criminal conviction, undischarged bankruptcy and a member of the police or a

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

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

Merit –compare and contrast the role of judges ,lawyers and lay people within the English courts.

Magistrates are volunteers who hear cases in courts in their community. Each case is usually heard by 3 magistrates, including a magistrate who is trained to act as a chairperson

On observing the District Court a number of distinctions from the Local Courts were immediately made apparent. Without going in to detail about the actual structure of the courts, they seemed to fit more closely with the traditional schema of a typical courtroom. In particular the larger courtrooms with more facilities combined with the barristers and magistrates wearing their wig and robes seemed to instantly uphold the ideology of justice. It is interesting to note how appearances can automatically provide an impression that justice will be upheld. The

The clerk otherwise known as the legal adivisor has to be qualified as a barrister or solicitor for at least five years. The clerk’s duty is to guide the magistrates on the question of law, practice and procedure. The clerk can not assist in the decision making and should not normally retire with the magistrates when they make their discisions. Clerks deal with ruotine admistrative matters such as issuing warrents for arrest, extend poilce bail, adhourn criminal procedings and deal with Early Adminisitrative Hearings. As lay magistrates perform an important role by being in charge over the vast majority of criminal cases, they enjoy the same advantage of immunity from suit as the rest of the judiciary as highlighted in Waltham Forest (1986) whereby the Court of Appeal held that

It is through the Criminal Justice System’s close collaborations with like-minded agencies such as the Police, Prison and Courts Services, that the public’s concerns and worries are resolved, in order to bring about justice in our communities (Cavadino and Dignan, 2007 as cited in Fox, 2014). With that in mind and out of the way, this essay will aim to explore some of the strengths and weaknesses, which are prominent within the Criminal Justice System. To do this successfully, the Police and the Courts Service will be the key agencies that will be explored in relation to the key Models that shape the whole Criminal Justice System. These Models were founded by Herbert L. Packer (1968) and Michael King (1981).

A magistrate forms part of the judiciary however they are unique in the sense that they do not get paid. Even though magistrates do not

Magistrates hear a broad range of different cases meaning that they can help with most issues and cases. Magistrates usually only receive expenses which saves the legal system hundreds of millions of pounds every year. Members of the community are able to participate in the administration of justice which promotes the idea of an open system. The public have trust and confidence in Magistrates as they are not professional members of the criminal justice system.

Lay magistrates are very important to the legal system in England and wales. Lay magistrate’s also known as ‘Justices of the peace’ are volunteers in Magistrates courts as judicial officers. There are 21,500 lay magistrates currently in England and wales. Combined with professional magistrates in a magistrate’s court they take up to 95% of cases involving criminal charges . This essay will be investigating the actual importance of them as well as recommendations on diversifying the bench for the Lord Chancellor.