ABSTRACT
The vast majority of crimes, 98 per cent, are dealt with by magistrates – ordinary people who are not paid a salary for their judicial work. The more serious crimes are tried in Crown Courts in front of a jury so, again, it is ordinary people, not anyone working for the state, who decide: guilty or not guilty. This system of justice by the people for the people is the mark of a democracy. The only exception is where full-time, salaried, district judges in cities decide whether the defendant is guilty.
