This report has been written after a visit to Westminster Magistrates' Court, one of the 700 magistrates' courts of England and Wales. A magistrates' court is the institution where almost 95 % of all criminal cases are being profoundly analysed by approximately 28,000 magistrates. According to Kate Malleson, ˜Magistrates play the role of the judge and jury combined, in that they apply the law and determine the facts in each case. After they have reached a verdict in criminal cases (or, more commonly, after a guilty plea by the defendant) they pass sentence. The maximum sentencing powers of magistrates is currently 12 months in custody and a £5.000 fine' (Malleson, 2010: 19). Looking more closely, there are a lot of interesting things that I have assisted during this 3 hours visit. The first thing to be noticed was the positioning of the three magistrates, sitting in a row. The magistrate in the middle is called chairman and usually he is doing all the talking. The other two magistrates are called wingers but they all work together to take the decisions. Just in front of the magistrates is situated the Clerk, who has an important role in magistrates' court, advising the magistrates on the law and procedure but only when is necessary, keeps the records of the proceeding and assist defendants who don't have legal advisers by explaining them what is happening. In some cases, there can be only one judge sitting there and they are called District Judges, who usually sit in busy courts rooms where they hear cases alone and don't have a qualified Clerk. To begin with, magistrates play a very important role in criminal justice system since they deal with much larger number of cases than any other institution, as I said before, almost 95 % of cases, approximately 1.9 million cases per year are being processed at this level, many of them being minor offences. They play the role of a judge and a jury in the same time, listening very carefully to everything that is said in the court and deciding who is telling the truth or lies and if the defendant is guilty or not guilty. However, in general, the findings indicate that judges encourage the defendants to plead guilty and get an ˜agreement' with the court and as Malleson describes that ˜approximately 90 per cent of defendants plead guilty and of those who plead not guilty, approximately 80 per cent are convicted. Therefore an acquittal following a trial is relatively rare event in the magistrates' courts' (Malleson, 2010: 19). Furthermore, from the two types of magistrates from England and Wales, District Judges are permanently hired by Ministry of Justice unlike the other magistrates who are unpaid and for which no formal qualifications are required. But all magistrates need intelligence and the capacity to act fair. Even though normal magistrates are not paid, they got all expenses paid as transport or loss of earnings up to £116 a day. The object