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Magistrates' Court Wikipedia

A Magistrates' Court or court of petty sessions is the lowest kind of court in England and Wales and many other common law jurisdictions. A magistrate's court is presided over by two or more Justice of the Peace|Justices of the Peace (magistrates), or by a stipendiary magistrate, and dispenses summary justice, under powers usually limited by statute. Magistrates' courts today can deal with minor offences (fines of up to ??5,000 and imprisonment of up to twelve months) and handle over 95% of the criminal cases in the UK. With more serious offences, magistrates are responsible for indictment and committal to the Crown Court (a task in former times dealt with by a grand jury).

Some common law jurisdictions are unique in the maintenance of a lay magistracy, i.e. magistrates who are not legally trained. They date from at least 1327, when an Act provided that "good and lawful men" be appointed in every county in the land to guard the Peace. In former times Justices of the Peace would be noblemen or squires, but nowadays are more like what Alexis de Tocqueville described in Democracy in America as "well-informed citizens". A bench of (usually three) magistrates is advised on the law by a legally-qualified clerk, and functions somewhat like a jury, albeit with presiding and sentencing powers.

In towns and boroughs, magistrates' courts are often presided by a legally-qualified stipendiary magistrates. Stipendiary magistrates usually sit alone, like an ordinary judge, but sometimes sit with lay magistrates.

The grand jury system, which still exists in the United States, has been abolished in England and Wales. Instead magistrates now perform the grand jury???s functions of indicting those accused of offences which need to be tried by a jury and committing them to the Crown Court for trial. As well as criminal matters, magistrates have various civil and administrative functions, such as issuing alcohol licences, although a change in the law will see liquor licensing transferred to local councils by the end of 2005.

The Magistrates' Courts in Hong Kong deal with criminal jurisdiction over a wide range of indictable and summary offences meriting up to 2 years of imprisonment and a fine of Hong Kong dollar|HK$100,000.

Last Modified:   2005-11-04