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Uk Advantages And Disadvantages Analysis

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Unit 23 D1 – Law
The Advantages and Disadvantages of using Lay Magistrates and Juries in the English Courts
Lay Magistrates and Juries are found in the Crown and Magistrates Court throughout England and Wales. A Jury is made up of random members of the general public, and is always made up of 12 people. These 12 people sit and listen to the facts and evidence given to them by the barristers. The Jury decide the verdict but do not sentence the defendant. Lay Magistrates is made up of three judges who are volunteers. These three people have no legal qualifications but are trained beforehand. The Lay Magistrates listen to the facts and evidence in the case, and then they decide the verdict and also sentence the defendant. If the Magistrates think …show more content…

For example, as ordinary members of the community serve as Lay Magistrates it could mean that the defendant could prefer being judged by the local community rather than a judge. However, the local community could be biased towards the defendant if they know them and could also lack knowledge in the case. Also, since local people are used as Lay Magistrates, they would have more of a social awareness so they can judge what the defendant did better. Although, the Lay Magistrates could know who the defendant is or the defendant could know who the Lay Magistrates are. As the Lay Magistrates don’t have any knowledge of the law or a legal qualification they can make the decisions based on the facts and evidence, also making them become open minded about the case. However, they could make a wrong decision or could even not understand the case. Also, with being a Lay Magistrate, the person does it is voluntary and is unpaid. This allows the government to save a lot of money by not having to pay for legally qualified people to be a Lay Magistrate. However, with the point of not getting paid, it could be a lack of motivation for the person to be a Lay Magistrate as they could possibly have to take time off work to sit in a case. Lay Magistrates have been used since the 13th Century, meaning that it shows that the system is indeed efficient. However, it could also show that is it old-fashioned and outdated with the possibility a new system would be better for the modern crimes. Finally, with the Magistrates Court hearing around 97% of all criminal cases, it frees up quite a large amount of money for the government but also allows the pro-judges to deal with the very serious crimes in the Crown Court. Although, 97% is a very high number and with the Lay Magistrates not being legally qualified, it could mean that they could sometimes get the decision

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