Lay Magistrate Court Essay

Introduction

In this report I am going to be giving an overview of what a Magistrate Court is, what sort of people work in a Magistrate Court and what sort of sentences Magistrates Court issue people with. Magistrate Courts deal with cases such as minor violent offences, motor vehicle offences and drunk or disorderly offences.

Selection

A Lay Magistrate is a part time judge who sit to hear cases as either a bench of two or three Magistrates. Lay Magistrates are also known as Justices of the Peace. An individual Lay Magistrate is very limited to what they can do in giving out sentences or community services however a Lay Magistrate can issue search warrants and arrest warrants. Also there are around 25,000 Lay Magistrates sitting as part time

Maturity is a serious quality a Lay Magistrate must have. For example if a Lay Magistrate isn't behaving maturely they can get lose the privilege of being a Lay Magistrate for not behaving professionally. A Lay Magistrate needs to respect everyone and be professional when they are working because it will give others the impression that they are respectful. A Lay Magistrate also needs to have sound temperament which means they need to act cool under pressure and make sure they make the right choice when either sentencing or handing our warrants.

Sound judgement is important for a Lay Magistrate because when it comes to sentencing someone it is important that the sentence that is given by the Lay Magistrate isn't too strict or lenient. The Magistrate also needs to make sure that the sentence they are giving is suitable for example if someone has been caught speeding for the first time they should be given a fine and not have their driving license taken off them or get sentenced to do community