We're all used to watching gritty TV dramas about the crown court with bewigged barristers, mumbling judges and gullible juries. These higher courts are familiar to us and if we were actually to visit them, we would recognise the courtroom ('Not as good as in Kavanagh') the waiting area ('Tosh from The Bill was in one a bit like this last week') and the formalities ('It's just the same as in Rumpole'), but the magistrates' court is different. It is the place where summary justice is dispensed. If the offence you have committed is not serious enough to merit a trip to the crown court, and the vast majority of offences are not, the magistrates' court is where your case will be heard. In fact the great majority of cases are dealt with by magistrates. This means that either three lay people or one professional magistrate (a stipendiary or 'stipe', as the lawyers call them) listen to your case, decide whether it is proven or not and pass sentence. This is where I am today.

LRB 1 June 2000 | PDF Download