Criminology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Criminology - Essay Example This makes the Crown Court the higher court of prime instance in criminal cases. Nevertheless, for some purposes, the Crown Court remains hierarchically ancillary to the High Court and Divisional Courts which fall under the High Court, on one hand. On the other hand, the Magistrates’ Court stands and operates as a lower court where all proceedings of criminal trials start from. Civil matters, particularly, family proceedings may also start at the Magistrates’ Court. The Magistrates’ Court have been streamlined and modified to help in fast and cheap delivery of justice. In England and Wales alone, there are 360 Magistrates’ Courts. The foregoing clearly shows that there are similarities and differences in the manner in which magistrates’ Courts and Crown Courts operate and the different roles they dispense. Also known as Justices of the Peace, magistrates serve as unpaid trained members of the local community. This is because magistrates are local pe ople who volunteer their services to the community. According to Macnair (2007, 678-679), although magistrates will not require formal legal qualifications, yet they are required to undertake a training programme including prison and court visits, in order to help magistrates acquire necessary skills. Magistrates are given procedural and legal advice by qualified clerks. On the converse, District and Crown Court judges are strictly qualified, full-time professionals on payroll and usually, are based in larger cities. Again, unlike magistrates’ court judges, District and Crown Court judges attend to more sensitive and complex court cases. Presently, there are about 30,000 magistrates, 150 district judges and 170 deputy district judges who operate in the approximately 330 magistrates’ courts in Wales and England. Given that magistrates do not need legal qualifications to discharge their duties, they are advised and helped in court on legal procedures and matters of law a nd legal practice by Justices’ Clerks. Assistant Justices’ Clerks also partake in this responsibility (Bell and Dadomo, 2006, 339). Unlike Crown Court judges, magistrates preside over less serious criminal cases such as motoring offences, the failure to pay council tax, TV licenses and vehicle excise license and misdemeanor. Magistrates may therefore commit to Crown Courts, more serious cases such as murder, rape and manslaughter. The same judges may deal with lighter legal duties such as enforcement of court fines, search warrants, court fines and right of entry applications. According to Carlen (1975, 378), cases may be brought to magistrates’ courts by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). In the event that a defendant has pleaded not guilty, a trial may be held, with the magistrates listening to, viewing and analyzing the evidence that has been adduced before the court of law, deciding on agreed facts and facts [which are] in dispute and considering whether t he case has been proven beyond reasonable doubt. In case a suspect has been found guilty or the suspect has entered a guilty plea, the magistrates may proceed to issue a court sentence by using sentencing guidelines and structured decision making processes which define the expected penalty for typical offences. The magistrate judges will also take note of case law and practice directions from higher courts and are also given advice in court by a legally qualified and competent adviser (Riddle and Jones, 2013, 750). In the event th