"We recommend that the Sentencing Council delay the finalisation and implementation of the new guideline until it has undertaken and published further research into the factors that influence a defendant's decision about whether and when to plead guilty, both in the magistrates' court and the crown court," the report concludes.
Due to their judicial role, historian Rafe de Crespigny does not differentiate between Prefects and Chiefs, referring to both as Magistrates.
Both the Magistrates and Crown Court Judiciary receive training provided by the Judicial Studies Board.
"It is worth reiterating that after Mr Kennedy-Macfoy was found not guilty in the magistrates court, both the Metropolitan police and the IPCC investigated his police complaint," he said.
The Duchess started as the 5/2 favourite, with Blacklock and St. Helena both at 3/1 and Magistrate at 4/1.
The trend can be seen both in the magistrates' courts, which hear most cases, and in the Crown Court, which dishes out the longest prison terms.
But, as she points out, even though the Elf affair is "without doubt the most important financial scandal ever investigated in Europe", the investigative team consists of just her, two other magistrates (both, sniff her critics, with suspiciously unFrench names), two clerks, two public prosecutors and three policemen.Match point to the cynics?
Data from both crown and magistrates' courts in England and Wales suggests the total number of people held on remand in 2013 reached 72,877, while in the 12 months to June this year there have been about 11,594 people in prison on remand at any one time.
