A day in the life of a Magistrate
previous conviction – предыдущий приговор enter a plea of guilty – объявить (в суде) о признании виновной adjourn a case – отложить, перенести (слушание) дело search warrant – ордер на обыск
As court starts at 10 am I like to get there about 9.30am – this gives me a chance to look through the lists to make sure none of the defendants' names are familiar.
I chair the court with two magistrates - a man, aged 32, who works in recruitment and was appointed about ten months ago, and a 54-year-old woman who works for a well-known airline.
Before going into court we have a brief chat with our legal adviser who confirms the majority of the court business.
As always, we go into court promptly at 10am; on our appearance in court everyone stands. It is a clear sign that chatting is over and it is time for business.
The first case is a 45-year-old defendant who’s pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol. The defendant had no previous convictions or points on his driving license. We disqualify the driver for 12 months and fine him £250.
The second case is a woman charged with shoplifting. She too enters a plea of guilty. However, she has a very long list of previous convictions and she already has been charged with another two shoplifting offences. She has to appear in court again in two weeks time to be sentenced. We decide to adjourn the case because then it will be better to consider all the charges together.
The third case involves two 19-year-old men, charged with assaulting the landlord of the pub where they had been drinking the previous night. It turns out that not all evidence has been collected. So we have to decide whether or not to grant bail.
Everyone has a right to bail, and we have to listen carefully to the arguments put by the prosecution and defense. After hearing evidence from the prosecution and defense, and consulting amongst ourselves, we grant conditional bail.
After quick lunch we are back in court.
We are asked to hear an application for a search warrant by a police officer. The police officer relays the information, source and reasons why a warrant is needed. They wish to search a property where it is believed there were stolen goods. We grant the search warrant and I sign the relevant papers.
Then we prepare to hear the case of burglary committed by a 38-year old man. The case appears to be rather violent. We decide to transfer the case to Crown Court.
We also hear two cases that both concern small traffic accidents. Both decisions are fines.
As no more case hearings are scheduled we are free at about 4 p.m.
Tasks (1)Write down the underlined phrases in a column; Make a brief summary of the Magistrate’s activity on this day.
(2) Fill out the following chart that is related to the Magistrate’s cases.
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