Talk:Magistrate

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Structure of the article[edit]

I'm going to revert the structural changes fastifex made to magistrate. Legal traditions are not typically delineated by race (such as anglo-saxon) since they are inherited independantly of geographical or racial divisions. I am not married to the structure I provided, however, and there are other options. Typically one would consider using a civil law versus common law grouping, however, magistrate is such a generic term with so many localized meanings, I thought it would benefit from a more global perspective.Manney 12:41, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Obviously there is no racial criterion, but legal traditions are a significant historical tradition- if you prefer to change the term Anglo-Saxonwhich might be misread, fine, but grouping blindly by geography makes no sense. Fastifex 20:36, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
    • The grouping was not blind, it was made according to a neutral category which is easily understandible. Magistrate is not used according to racial or ethnic history. Perhaps you could explain why you believe it is appropriate.Manney 04:51, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
      • It's as blind as a bat, no single continent has a consistent legal tradition, only historical stemmata do Fastifex 13:24, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
        • How very neutral of you to point that out. I really appriciate how clearly you have indicated source of your superior method of classification. Feel free to respond to my original question any time you wish.Manney 02:03, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

England and Wales[edit]

"Certain sentences may be passed only by paid magistrates and not by their lay colleagues." Please provide a reference. Richard75 23:37, 19 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Paid, ie stipendiary, magistrates no longer exist, but have been replaced by District Judges.


The claim that they're "drawn from many walks of life" is a bit optimistic. I've no idea of figures, but it seems a reasonable guess that they're /overwhelmingly/ (upper-)middle-class and tend to be middle-aged. I'm sure the MoJ is trying to rectify this, but as it stands the statement is wishful thinking.

I actually came to this page looking for something about the history of magistrates, trying to make sense of a historical reference to "clerical magistrates" (ie CofE priests who served as magistrates). Can anyone help? 131.111.8.103 09:14, 28 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Robing in Australia[edit]

The additions of Chrisrowland appear to me to be POV. Who is to say "Your Worship" is antiquated? The very term suggests outdated and worthy of discard. That's one argument (which not all accept) and it's implied in the use of the term. Avalon 03:44, 1 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I agree- it does express an arguable point of view. Removed & rewritten in more concise terms. Chris 10:58, 1 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Roman Magistrates[edit]

No mention of the Magistratus, where the name presumably comes from, and who are generally refred to as magistrates.

I agree. The Roman and perhaps any elder connection should be mentioned as there are lots of visible influences of the Roman Judical system in Europa today. I haven't gotten any real in-depth knowledge meself so I can't add anything. Fred26 10:33, 13 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Magi[edit]

No, magistrate is not from magi. Check this out: *meg-Dave 04:26, 25 August 2006 (UTC) or find out more on google.[reply]

There are still lay magistrates in some Australian jurisdictions that hear minor criminal matters, eg. in South Australia where "Special Justices" sit in the Magistrates' Court. There are also auxilliary magistrates who sit on a part-time (paid) basis.

Had to delete[edit]

Had to delete this sentence because it was garbled: "In some jurisdictions, such as Australia, the term has become both Federal Magistrates and state magistrates have jurisdiction similar to a judge." I don't object to the content, it's just that the sentence was garbled and I don't see how to fix it. NuclearWinner (talk) 21:01, 11 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Break out U.S. Fed. Magistrates.[edit]

The section on Magistrate Judges in the United States federal courts is substantial enough (and expandable enough) to be broken out into a separate article. bd2412 T 16:55, 30 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]


Improving the lead[edit]

I propose that the lead simply state that the term has and has had different meanings in different jurisdictions. --Markbrown00 (talk) 09:12, 13 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Proposed Lead:

The term magistrate has been used in various systems of government and law to refer to refer to specific position of authority. In ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in some jurisdictions, a magistrate is a judicial officer who hears cases in a lower court, and typically deals with more minor or preliminary matters. In other jurisdictions (e.g., England and Wales), magistrates may be volunteers without formal legal training who perform a judicial role with regard to minor matters.

If no objections, I will make this edit in a few days. Markbrown00 (talk) 09:12, 13 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Looks like a big improvement to me. Thanks for doing it. But this, though just a suggestion, might be even better:

The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of government and law to refer 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. In other parts of the world, such as China, for instance, a magistrate was responsible for administering a particular area. Today, in some jurisdictions, a magistrate is a judicial officer who hears cases in a lower court, and typically deals with more minor or preliminary matters. In other jurisdictions (e.g., England and Wales), magistrates may be volunteers without formal legal training who perform a judicial role with regard to minor matters.

Not a big deal, but new sections go at the bottom, which is where most editors will look for them, so I took the liberty of moving it. ch (talk) 17:50, 13 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the tip, CWH. And i like your version, which I propose we use. --Markbrown00 (talk) 01:30, 14 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]
I've added it --Markbrown00 (talk) 00:19, 15 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Hope you'll go on and do more! For instance, I'm not clear myself about the distinction between the COmmon Law and the Continental systems -- maybe you could add a little to clarify?ch (talk) 16:06, 15 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

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