Examining magistrate

In an inquisitorial system of law, the examining magistrate, or investigating magistrate, or inquisitorial magistrate, is a judge who carries out investigations into allegations of criminality and arranges prosecutions.

Many European judiciaries are based on the formal methods of the 1804 Napoleonic Code. As early police forces were often unreliable, the practice was to allow anyone to approach an examining magistrate and, on presentation of prima facie evidence alone, ask for an official investigation of supposed wrongdoing.

Provided the examining magistrate is satisfied there is substance to the allegations, the official criminal investigation services gather additional evidence under court supervision.

Unlike the fixed courtrooms used by criminal trial courts which usually operate in public and require proof beyond reasonable doubt, the examining magistrate's court is held in camera (secret until finally summarized), is less formal and may visit relevant scenes, ask questions of bystanders or investigators or relocate if necessary. For example, examining magistrate's courts may function in hospitals, official offices, private premises or even open fields considered relevant to the acquisition or verification of evidence, which may be admissible in the trial court on the basis of being relevant merely on the balance of probability.

The purpose of the examining magistrate is to classify the whole body of evidence as it is acquired, to decide if it is admissible evidence, and to call witnesses, and request the appointment of a prosecutor (often called a fiscal). Witnesses may be of two categories:

Finally the case may be

...
Wikipedia