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Stipendiary Magistrates
Stipendiary magistrates were magistrates that were paid for their work (they received a stipend). They existed in the judiciaries of the United Kingdom and those of several former British territories, where they sat in the lowest-level criminal courts. United Kingdom England and Wales Stipendiary magistrates sat in the magistrates' courts of England and Wales, alongside unpaid 'lay' magistrates, generally hearing the more serious cases. In London, stipendiary magistrates were known as metropolitan stipendiary magistrates. Until 1949, they were known as metropolitan police magistrates. There was also a Chief Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate for London, with additional administrative duties. In August 2000, stipendiary magistrates, including metropolitan stipendiary magistrates, were replaced by the new role of district judge (magistrates' courts). There is also now a Senior District Judge (Chief Magistrate). Scotland Stipendiary magistrates were the most junior judge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magistrate
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws 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, a magistrate was responsible for administration over a particular geographic 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 are typically trained volunteers appointed to deal with criminal and civil matters in their local areas. Original meaning In ancient Rome, the word '' magistratus'' referred to one of the highest offices of state. Analogous offices in the local authorities, such as ''municipium'', were subordinate only to the legislature of which they generally were members, '' ex officio'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Summary Offence
A summary offence or petty offence is a violation in some common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded against summarily, without the right to a jury trial and/or indictment (required for an indictable offence). Canada In Canada, summary offences are referred to as summary conviction offences. As in other jurisdictions, summary conviction offences are considered less serious than indictable offences because they are punishable by shorter prison sentences and smaller fines. These offences appear both in the federal laws of Canada and in the legislation of Canada's provinces and territories. For summary conviction offences that fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government (which includes all criminal law), section 787 of the Criminal Code specifies that, unless another punishment is provided for by law, the maximum penalty for a summary conviction offence is a sentence of 2 years less a day of imprisonment, a fine of $5,000 or both. As a matter of practical effect, some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imprisonment
Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessarily imply a place of confinement, with bolts and bars, but may be exercised by any use or display of force (such as placing one in handcuffs), lawfully or unlawfully, wherever displayed, even in the open street. People become prisoners, wherever they may be, by the mere word or touch of a duly authorized officer directed to that end. Usually, however, imprisonment is understood to imply an actual confinement in a jail or prison employed for the purpose according to the provisions of the law. Sometimes incarceration of women, gender imbalances occur in imprisonment rates, with incarceration of males proportionately more likely than incarceration of females. History Africa Before colonisation, imprisonment was used in sub-Saharan Africa f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sentence (law)
In law, a sentence is the punishment for a crime ordered by a trial court after conviction in a criminal procedure, normally at the conclusion of a trial. A sentence may consist of imprisonment, a fine, or other sanctions. Sentences for multiple crimes may be a concurrent sentence, where sentences of imprisonment are all served together at the same time, or a consecutive sentence, in which the period of imprisonment is the sum of all sentences served one after the other. Additional sentences include intermediate, which allows an inmate to be free for about 8 hours a day for work purposes; determinate, which is fixed on a number of days, months, or years; and indeterminate or bifurcated, which mandates the minimum period be served in an institutional setting such as a prison followed by street time period of parole, supervised release or probation until the total sentence is completed. If a sentence is reduced to a less harsh punishment, then the sentence is said to have been mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Assault
An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in criminal prosecution, civil liability, or both. Generally, the common law definition is the same in criminal and tort law. Traditionally, common law legal systems have separate definitions for assault and battery. When this distinction is observed, battery refers to the actual bodily contact, whereas assault refers to a credible threat or attempt to cause battery. Some jurisdictions combined the two offences into a single crime called "assault and battery", which then became widely referred to as "assault". The result is that in many of these jurisdictions, assault has taken on a definition that is more in line with the traditional definition of battery. The legal systems of civil law and Scots law have never distinguished assault from batte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dangerous Driving
In United Kingdom law, dangerous driving is a statutory offence. It is also a term of art used in the definition of the offence of causing death by dangerous driving. It replaces the former offence of reckless driving. Canada's Criminal Code has equivalent provisions covering dangerous driving (see "Canada" section below). England and Wales and Scotland Statute This offence is created by section 2 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (as substituted by section 1 of the Road Traffic Act 1991): "Dangerously" A person is to be regarded as driving dangerously for the purposes of sections 1 and 2 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 if *the way he/she drives falls far below what would be expected of a competent and careful driver, and it would be obvious to a competent and careful driver that driving in that way would be dangerous; and *if it would be obvious to a competent and careful driver that driving the vehicle in its current state (for the purpose of the determination of which regard ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drink Driving (United Kingdom)
The laws of driving under the influence vary between countries. One difference is the acceptable limit of blood alcohol content before a person is charged with a crime. Africa The following is a list of the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) limits for drivers in each African country: *Angola: 0.06% *Algeria: 0.02% *Benin: 0.05% * Cape Verde: 0.08% *Central African Republic: 0.08% * Comoros: 0 * Congo: 0.05% *Egypt: 0.05% * Equatorial Guinea: 0.15% * Eritrea: 0.03% for commercial or professional drivers, 0.05% for all other drivers *Ethiopia: 0.08 *The Gambia: No limit *Ghana: 0.08% * Guinea: 0.08% *Guinea-Bissau: 0.15% *Kenya: 0.08% *Libya: 0 *Malawi: 0.08% *Mauritius: 0.05% *Morocco: 0.02% *Namibia: 0.05% *Niger: No limit *Nigeria: 0.05% * Rwanda: 0.08% *Seychelles: 0.08% *South Africa: 0.05% and 0.02% for professional drivers (trucks over 3.5 tonnes, and vehicles carrying passengers for reward) *Togo: No limit *Uganda: 0.08% *Tanzania: Zero for professional or commercial driver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Faculty Of Advocates
The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a constituent part of the College of Justice and is based in Edinburgh. Advocates are privileged to plead in any cause before any of the courts of Scotland, including the sheriff courts and district courts, where counsel are not excluded by statute. History The Faculty has existed since 1532 when the College of Justice was set up by Act of the Parliament of Scotland, but its origins are believed to predate that event. No curriculum of study, residence or professional training was, until 1856, required on entering this profession, but the faculty always had the power of rejecting any candidate for admission. Subsequently candidates underwent two private examinations; one in general scholarship that could be substituted by evidence of an equivalen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Law Society Of Scotland
The Law Society of Scotland is the professional governing body for Scottish solicitors. It promotes excellence among solicitors through the support and regulation of its members. It also promotes the interests of the public in relation to the profession. The Society helps to shape the law for the benefit of both the public and the profession. The Society was established by statute in 1949 and its rules are set out in the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980. All practising solicitors, currently around 10,500, are members. The Society is funded by its members and has an annual budget of almost £8 million. History Lawyers in Scotland have been organised in professional bodies since at least the sixteenth century. The Faculty of Advocates was established as the body for practising advocates in 1532, though its origins are thought to date from even earlier. Other lawyers were represented by associations and faculties of procurators and solicitors. Among those that still exist, the S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wig And Gown
Court dress comprises the style of clothes and other attire prescribed for members of courts of law. Depending on the country and jurisdiction's traditions, members of the court ( judges, magistrates, and so on) may wear formal robes, gowns, collars, or wigs. Within a certain country and court setting, there may be many times when the full formal dress is not used. Examples in the UK include many courts and tribunals including the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, and sometimes trials involving children. Commonwealth countries United Kingdom The Supreme Court Members of the old Judicial Committee of the House of Lords (or "Law Lords") and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council never wore court dress (although advocates appearing before them did). Instead, they were dressed in ordinary business clothing. Since the creation of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in 2009, the Justices of that court have retained the Law Lords' tradition of sitting unrobed. On cere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scottish Criminal Law
Scots criminal law relies far more heavily on common law than in England and Wales. Scottish criminal law includes offences against the person of murder, culpable homicide, rape and assault, offences against property such as theft and malicious mischief, and public order offences including mobbing and breach of the peace. Scottish criminal law can also be found in the statutes of the UK Parliament with some areas of criminal law, such as misuse of drugs and traffic offences appearing identical on both sides of the Border. Scottish criminal law can also be found in the statute books of the Scottish Parliament such as the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 (2009 asp 9) and Prostitution (Public Places) (Scotland) Act 2007 (2007 asp 11) which only apply to Scotland. In fact, the Scots requirement of corroboration in criminal matters changes the practical prosecution of crimes derived from the same enactment. Corroboration is not required in England or in civil cases in Scotland. Sco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Summary (law)
Summary, in law, forms many compounds as an adjective meaning "short, concise": *Summary abatement, the abatement of a nuisance without judicial proceeding, even without notice or hearing, often by a destruction of the offending thing or structure. 39 Am J1st Nuis § 183 et seq. *Summary contempt proceeding, a proceeding to adjudicate contempt in the immediate presence of the court, without pleading, affidavit, or formal charges—albeit the accused may be entitled to a hearing or at least opportunity to make an explanation of his conduct under oath. 17 Am J2d Contpt §§ 86–88. * Summary conviction, convicting an accused without giving him the benefit of a jury trial and/or indictment. *summary court-martial, the lowest in the rank of courts-martial, conducted before one commissioned officer, limited in jurisdiction to offenses of a minor or petty nature of which enlisted men, not commissioned officers, stand accused. * Summary dismissal, a dismissal of a civil service employee w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
