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• magistrate's court
  magistrate's court

  noun

  a court having limited jurisdiction over minor civil and criminal matters, as matters of contract not exceeding a particular amount of money.
• magistrates' court
  magistrates' court

  noun

  (in England) a court of summary jurisdiction held before two or more justices of the peace or a stipendiary magistrate to deal with minor crimes, certain civil actions, and preliminary hearings

magistrate's court

American  

noun

1. a court having limited jurisdiction over minor civil and criminal matters, as matters of contract not exceeding a particular amount of money.

2. police court.

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magistrates' court British  

noun

1. (in England) a court of summary jurisdiction held before two or more justices of the peace or a stipendiary magistrate to deal with minor crimes, certain civil actions, and preliminary hearings

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Etymology

Origin of magistrate's court

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

magistrate's court magistrates' court

Erias Lukwago appeared before a magistrate's court in the capital Kampala looking visibly weak, local media reported, days after he was arrested at his home.

From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026

The defense had earlier disputed whether the magistrate's court had extraterritorial jurisdiction over the posts she published aboard, but they abandoned the dispute as she didn't remove the content.

From Reuters ● Nov. 3, 2023

The move by a magistrate’s court follows similar actions in early August against Apple and the Wikimedia Foundation that hosts Wikipedia.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 17, 2023

Chow Hang-tung, 38, a prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and former vice-chairperson of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, was among those convicted by a magistrate's court.

From Reuters ● Mar. 11, 2023

The first stage took place in a magistrate’s court.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

As Sheeran's case was dealt with under the Single Justice Procedure system, it could be sent to any magistrates' court regardless of the location of the offence, based on a national database.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

The firm now faces being fined when sentenced at the magistrates' court on 2 June.

From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2026

A prosecution lawyer had outlined some detail about the allegations against Mr Spencer at an earlier magistrates' court hearing.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2025

The vast majority of those cases were processed through the magistrates' court which has lower sentencing powers.

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2025

They had left the market-town immediately after Frank's little matter in the magistrates' court, and had done pretty well, arriving in York ten days ago.

From None Other Gods by Robert Hugh Benson