Kirby, Amy (2024) "‘No TV programme is made about boring magistrates’ cases’: revisiting the ‘ideology of triviality’ in magistrates’ justice". The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice , ISSN 2059-1101.
This is the latest version of this item.
![[img]](https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/style/images/fileicons/text.png) |
Text
54307.pdf - Author's Accepted Manuscript Restricted to Repository staff only Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (445kB) | Request a copy |
|
|
Text
54307a.pdf - Published Version of Record Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (273kB) | Preview |
Abstract
Magistrates’ courts in England and Wales deal with around 95 per cent of cases from start to completion, with many cases heard by lay magistrates. Despite this reliance on both the lower courts and decision-making by lay adjudicators, it has been repeatedly argued that magistrates’ justice receives little attention. McBarnet (1981) argues that this is due to an ‘ideology of triviality’ in which the work of the magistrates’ courts is constructed as ‘trivial’, when in fact the cases heard are serious in nature and consequence. This paper draws upon the framing of the ‘ideology of triviality’ to present findings from a qualitative study which examined contemporary workings of magistrates’ justice through court observations and interviews with lay court users. The findings suggest that the fallacy of ‘triviality’ continues to pervade magistrates’ justice. This has consequences both for those with personal experience of the magistrates’ courts and wider society.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Amy Kirby |
| Date Deposited: | 26 Sep 2024 07:33 |
| Last Modified: | 03 Dec 2024 14:17 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/54307 |
Available Versions of this Item
- "‘No TV programme is made about boring magistrates’ cases’: revisiting the ‘ideology of triviality’ in magistrates’ justice". (deposited 26 Sep 2024 07:33) [Currently Displayed]
Statistics
Additional statistics are available via IRStats2.
Archive Staff Only (login required)
