Legal System: Magistrates Flashcards
DPP v Paul
evaluation of magistrates; local knowledge
a man was charged with keen crawling and magistrates had to decide whether his actions were “likely to cause a nuisance”
the magistrates knew the neighbourhood was residential and that kerb crawling had become a problem so convicted the offender
Lord Woolf said this case was particularly appropriate for magistrates as they possess local knowledge
R v Eccles Justices
evaluation; over reliance on legal advisor
magistrates relied too heavily on the legal advisor who then took part in the decision making
the verdict was overturned on appeal, demonstrates that if cases were heard by judges instead of magistrates then this problem would be eliminated
R v Bingham
evaluation; bias
in a speeding case, D and the police officer contradicted each other but the chairman said “my principle in such cases has always been to believe the evidence of the police officer”
the chairman had clear bias and favoured the police officer, therefore the trial had not been fair and the conviction was overturned
