The lower criminal court in England and Wales is the Magistrates’ Court. Here, cases are heard by panels of lay judges, supported by a legal adviser, or – less frequently – by professional judges. The Magistrates’ Courts have undergone sweeping changes in recent years, mainly under the flag of cost efficiency. Trials are most often brief, and the defendants tend to be economically destitute, or otherwise socially disadvantaged. For lawyers, these circumstances provide a challenging environment that is decidedly glamourless.
The presenter has conducted observations in Magistrates’ Courts in England and Wales, in city courts and in semi-rural and rural courts (Machura, in print). The observations revealed striking differences between the youth court and trials against adults. The presentation focuses on the constraints that the social setting at Magistrates’ Courts imposes on lawyers and how lawyers adapt to them.
Literature: Machura, Stefan (in print). “… and my right” ̶ The Magistrates’ Courts in England and Wales. In Shari S. Diamond, Valerie Hans, Sanja Kutnjak Ivkovich and Nancy Marder (eds.), Juries, Lay Judges, and Mixed Courts: A Global Perspective, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.