The Judge’s role

There are some 3,500 Judges in the UK administering the three different legal systems of Northern Ireland, Scotland and England & Wales. Contrary to popular belief, a British Judge does not have a gavel. Instead, they command the court’s attention purely by their position, status and spoken deliberations. In a criminal case, the Judge also wears the white or silver-haired curly wig, a tradition dating back several centuries when such headgear was the fashion in high society.

Judges usually specialise in particular court types, as they need to have expert knowledge of precedents and the current law for each. Thus there are trial judges, tribunal judges, circuit judges, magistrates, appellate judges, constitutional judges and so on. They are appointed by a politically independent Commission that considers the candidate’s length of experience, their merit and ability to make decisions impartially, fairly and in accordance with British law.

The Judge’s role in overseeing a court’s procedures includes reading case paperwork, listening to arguments, advising on points of law, giving instructions to the jury and passing sentence, whether that is imprisonment or a fine. The Judge must evaluate the opposing perceptions of a case, and it is therefore a role perhaps not suited to many.

(Image: FruitMonkey at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0)