All 4 Uses of
magistrate
in
Me Before You
- It came as no surprise when Nathan told me she was a magistrate.†
p. 68.1 *magistrate = judicial official
- I had been a magistrate for almost eleven years.†
p. 118.4
- She's a magistrate, for goodness' sake.†
p. 381.2
- You'd think a magistrate would know what was right or wrong.†
p. 381.3
Definition:
a judge or judicial official
The 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