All 4 Uses of
magistrate
in
The Trial of Socrates by Linder
- The summons required Socrates to appear before the legal magistrate, or King Archon, in a colonnaded building in central Athens called the Royal Stoa to answer charges of impiety and corrupting the youth.†
- The preliminary hearing before the magistrate at the Royal Stoa began with the reading of the written charge by Meletus.†
*
- The magistrate questioned both Meletus and Socrates, then gave both the accuser and defendant an opportunity to question each other.†
- Having found merit in the accusation against Socrates, the magistrate drew up formal charges.†
Definition:
-
(magistrate) a judge or judicial officialThe exact meaning of magistrate varies widely depending upon the context. For example:
- in the U.S. federal court: assists district court judges by handling minor offenses or administrative tasks such as preliminary hearings (often referred to as a magistrate judge rather than just a magistrate)
- in some U.S. states: a judge in the state court
- in France, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and other civil law countries: a sitting magistrate is a judge and a standing magistrate is a prosecutor
- in England: may be a volunteer without formal legal training who performs a judicial role with regard to minor matters
- in ancient Rome: a powerful officer with both judicial and executive power