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The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judicial and executive powers.
A justices' clerk had the powers of a single magistrate, for example to issue a summons, adjourn proceedings, extend bail, issue a warrant for failing to surrender to bail where there is no objection on behalf of the accused, dismiss an information where no evidence is offered, request a pre-sentence report, commit a defendant for trial without consideration of the evidence and give directions ...
Magistrate derives from the Middle English word magistrat, denoting a "civil officer in charge of administrating laws" (c.1374); from the Old French magistrat; from the Latin magistratus, which derives from magister (master), from the root of magnus (great). [14] Today, in England and Wales, the word is used to describe a justice of the peace.
In some jurisdictions, an assessor is a judge's or magistrate's assistant. This is the historical meaning of this word. In common law jurisdictions, assessors are usually non-lawyers who sit together with a judge to provide either expert advice (such as on maritime matters) or guidance on local practices.
The lead magistrate is known as a Presiding Justice (PJ) and should be addressed in court as "sir" or "ma'am" or "your worship", and the magistrates collectively as "your worships". In writing they are their usual name followed by "JP" (for Justice of the Peace). [64] Other magistrates on the bench are known as "wingers". [65]
The JCIO found the magistrate had said "this is shit" after the bench had delivered its verdict in a case, adding that the language and behaviour amounted to serious misconduct.
Students of law who, after law school, have passed the first of two required examinations join the Referendariat, a time of two years consisting of a series of clerkships: for a civil law judge, a criminal law judge or a prosecutor, a government office and finally at a law firm. The purpose of this clerkship is solely the legal education of the ...
The clerk, Dionisio Figueroa, was sentenced to two years in federal prison and the lawyer, Telesforo Del Valle Jr., got one year and a day in separate proceedings at which U.S. District Judge Mae ...