Magistrates Court

Today we visited the Magistrates Court. The English Court system is very similar to the American Court system. The highest court is the Supreme Court, which has now been open for a year. Due to bomb threats, we were not allowed to visit the court. There is a high level raised of security since the Queen of England is visiting Ireland. I'm excited I had the privilege to be in Europe while the Queen makes a trip to Ireland. This experience is unique because it's the first time in decades since a Monarch has been to Ireland. Anyways on to process of the courts. There are three courts that fall under the criminal court. Those are court of appeal, crown court, and magistrates court. Courts of appeal, much like the United States court, only have appellate jurisdiction. The Crown Court has both appellate and original jurisdiction. Magistrates Courts only have original jurisdiction. Since we visited the Magistrates court I have a better understanding of the system. We were privileged to have Judge Eli Baker. He explained his role and the roles of the the court room players. All cases began in the Magistrates court and then can be sent up to higher courts. Then we sat in on a court case. Europeans use more of intermediate sanctions, which means they give out fines in lieu of jail. The case we saw was a man who had been charged with carrying cannabis. He had a prior record, he only received a 100 pound fine. Also instead of one Judge presiding over the court there was three. All in all that sums up my experience with the Magistrates Court. There will be no picture posted because yet again I was not allowed to take pictures. Tonight is the Jack the Ripper tour!!! I will post picture and a blog about that tomorrow.

Cheers,

Danielle