The court visited was ‘Uxbridge Magistrates Court’. Magistrates (also known as justices of the peace) are 21,500 volunteer judicial office holders who serve in magistrates’ courts throughout England and Wales. Most of the criminal court cases that are heard in England and Wales take place in a Magistrates Court. A Magistrates' Court is usually presided over by three magistrates. They are called Justices of the Peace. The panel of judges is often called the Bench. Magistrates are not paid, but they can claim for expenses and loss of earnings. In the magistrates court this is where all the criminal cases start at first.
Magistrates hear less serious criminal cases including motoring offences, commit to higher courts serious cases such as rape …show more content…
The magistrates are ordinary people, they are not lawyers and they will need to practice 30 days training before they can go to the magistrates’ court. Justices of the Peace, as they are also known, are local people who volunteer their services. They do not require formal legal qualifications, but will have undertaken a training program, including court and prison visits, to develop the necessary skills. They are given legal and procedural advice by qualified clerks. District judges are legally qualified, paid, full-time professionals and are usually based in the larger cities. They normally hear the more complex or sensitive cases. There are approximately 23,000 magistrates, 140 district judges and 170 deputy district judges operating in the roughly 330 magistrates’ courts throughout England and …show more content…
The first route is for the defense to appeal by way of Case stated on a point of law to the Queen’s Bench Divisional Court, the second method is an appeal to the Crown Court about the sentence or against the conviction or both.
Case stated appeals are appeals on a point of law and these go to the Queen’s Bench Divisional Court, which in effect means the High Court sitting in its appellant jurisdiction. Such an appeal is usually heard by a panel of two or three High Court judges although on occasions a judge from the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) may join them and form part of the panel. There are limits to this route. It can be used by both the defense against conviction but not sentence and by the prosecution but only against acquittal.
The essence of the appeal is that the Magistrates arrived at the wrong decision because they made a mistake as to the law. The Divisional Court disposes of the appeal by either confirming the decision, or remitting (send back) the case to the Magistrates’ Court for the Magistrates to implement the decision of the Divisional Court on the point of law. Such appeals are few and far
Magistrates hear less serious criminal cases including motoring offences, commit to higher courts serious cases such as rape …show more content…
The magistrates are ordinary people, they are not lawyers and they will need to practice 30 days training before they can go to the magistrates’ court. Justices of the Peace, as they are also known, are local people who volunteer their services. They do not require formal legal qualifications, but will have undertaken a training program, including court and prison visits, to develop the necessary skills. They are given legal and procedural advice by qualified clerks. District judges are legally qualified, paid, full-time professionals and are usually based in the larger cities. They normally hear the more complex or sensitive cases. There are approximately 23,000 magistrates, 140 district judges and 170 deputy district judges operating in the roughly 330 magistrates’ courts throughout England and …show more content…
The first route is for the defense to appeal by way of Case stated on a point of law to the Queen’s Bench Divisional Court, the second method is an appeal to the Crown Court about the sentence or against the conviction or both.
Case stated appeals are appeals on a point of law and these go to the Queen’s Bench Divisional Court, which in effect means the High Court sitting in its appellant jurisdiction. Such an appeal is usually heard by a panel of two or three High Court judges although on occasions a judge from the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) may join them and form part of the panel. There are limits to this route. It can be used by both the defense against conviction but not sentence and by the prosecution but only against acquittal.
The essence of the appeal is that the Magistrates arrived at the wrong decision because they made a mistake as to the law. The Divisional Court disposes of the appeal by either confirming the decision, or remitting (send back) the case to the Magistrates’ Court for the Magistrates to implement the decision of the Divisional Court on the point of law. Such appeals are few and far