Magistrate
From Many systems, with different meanings
Legal professions
What it means
A word used for several different judicial officers. It may mean a lay judge, a junior judge, any professional judge, or even a prosecutor.
Why it travels badly
The same word means different people in different places. A translator who sees 'magistrat' or 'magistrado' and writes 'magistrate' may give an English reader the wrong picture.
How other systems say it
magistrate (Justice of the Peace)
A trained but unpaid lay person who sits in the magistrates' court. Full-time lawyers who do the same work are called district judges (magistrates' courts).
magistrat
A career judge or a prosecutor. Both belong to the same corps. Judges are the magistrats du siège and prosecutors the magistrats du parquet.
magistrate judge
A federal judicial officer who handles pre-trial matters and some trials by consent, appointed by the district court's judges.
Singapore and Hong Kong
magistrate
A professional judge of the Magistrates' Courts, who hears minor cases.
Tip for translators and students
Avoid translating 'magistrate' automatically. First find out which kind of officer the text means.
Related: Prosecutor, Jury and lay judges, Barrister and solicitor
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
TheLawToKnow Tools’s glossary is an educational overview of the main differences between legal systems. It is not legal advice.
