magistrate

«magistrate» in Mova's school dictionary: An official who acts as a judge in a local court, dealing… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a magistrate, magistrates)

meaning for a pupil

1) (law) An official who acts as a judge in a local court, dealing with less serious crimes and some family or local matters. tree →

2) (UK) A volunteer from the community, also called a Justice of the Peace (JP), who hears cases in a magistrates' court. tree →

3) (history) In old Rome and other places, a person who held public power, like a mayor or governor. tree →

sense in the lessons

In citizenship lessons, magistrates are part of the justice system: in England and Wales most criminal cases start in a magistrates' court; in Australia and New Zealand magistrates also run local courts. Magistrates decide if someone is guilty of minor crimes and give punishments like fines. Phrases: «magistrates' court», «appear before a magistrate», «the magistrate fined him».

examples

• The man had to appear before a magistrate for speeding. tree →
• Magistrates in England are usually volunteers, not paid lawyers. tree →
• The magistrate fined her for dropping litter. tree →
• Most criminal cases start in the magistrates' court. tree →
• Our neighbour is a magistrate and sits in court twice a month. tree →
• The magistrate listened to both sides before deciding. tree →
• In ancient Rome, magistrates ran the city. tree →
• A magistrate can send serious cases to a higher court. tree →
• Then the magistrate, pointing to Pinocchio, said in a very solemn voice: tree →

note

Countable: one magistrate, two magistrates. «Magistrates' court» has the apostrophe after the s. A magistrate is not always a trained lawyer (in the UK many are volunteers). Not the same as a «judge», who deals with bigger cases. Not a maths word.

In the corpora

• But by 1908 most prisoners were kept in plain new prisons with rows of cells, and magistrates could never give anyone twenty years.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «magistrate» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.