Magistrate

Definition of Magistrate

Note: See a more comprehensive approach to the Magistrate legal concept in the American Law Encyclopedia

A quasi-judge who assists a judge in processing judicial business. Magistrates are attorneys who are appointed by judges to positions formally authorized under federal or state law. The Federal Magistrates Act of 1968 established the position of U.S. Magistrate, for example. The position was created to provide another tier of judicial officer in the federal courts. Under the 1968 Act, magistrates were assigned specific functions before and after both criminal and civil trials. Some of these duties, such as taking depositions, are comparatively routine. Other functions, however, require judgment such as hearing petty offense cases, issuing warrants, disposing of motions, and conducting arraignments. Amendments to the Act in 1976 and 1979 enabled U.S. magistrates to hear additional pretrial matters and submit findings to the district court. U.S. magistrates are also empowered to preside at trials with the consent of the parties. If a magistrate presides at a trial, direct appeals go to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Full-time U.S. magistrates must be members of the state bar and are appointed to eight-year terms by judges of the U.S. District Court. Part-time magistrates serve four-year terms. There are about 600 full-time and part-time U.S. magistrates in the federal court system. Magistrates are also used in state courts, but seldom have the range of responsibilities of their federal counterparts.

See Also

Judge (Law of the United States) Referee (Law of the United States) United States District Court (Law of the United States) (Law of the United States).

Resources

Magistrate Related Resources

• Magistrate in the United States Legal Encyclopedia
• Judicial Personnel Keywords in the United States Legal Encyclopedia
• Judicial Personnel Keywords in the International Legal Dictionary

Notes

• “Magistrate”, The American Law Dictionary, 1991, California

Magistrate

In the Past

A public civil officer, invested with some part of the legislative, executive or judicial power given by the constitution. In a narrower sense this term includes only inferior judicial officers, as justices of the peace.

Developments

The president of the United States of America is the chief magistrate of this nation; the governors are the chief magistrates of their respective states.

Details

It is the duty of all magistrates to exercise the power, vested in them for the good of the people, according to law and with zeal and fidelity. A neglect on the part of a magistrate to exercise the functions of his office, when needd by law, is a misdemeanor. Vide 15 Vin. Ab. 144; Ayl. Pand. tit. 22; Dig. 30, 16, 57; Merl. Rep. h. t.; 13 Pick. R. 523. [1]

Resources

Notes and References

1. Partialy, this information about magistrate is based on the Bouvier's Law Dictionary, 1848 edition. There is a list of terms of the Bouvier's Law Dictionary, including magistrate.

See Also

Magistrate (Judicial Personnel)

Meaning of Magistrate

This is a brief definition of magistrate; a term used, in general, in the field of procedural law within the United States: A judicial officer who is lower in rank than a judge, serving as an assistant to the judge and authorized to perform limited judicial functions_ similar in function to a court commissioner. A committing magistrate is a magistrate having the authority to conduct preliminary hearings in criminal cases, and to decide whether defendants should be committed or released until trial.