Judge

:''For the hardcore band Judge, see Judge (band)'' A judge or justice is an appointed or elected official who presides over a court. The powers, functions, and training of judges vary widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. A judge may also be a qualified person who evaluates and passes judgement on something. For example, a judge at a fair might award prizes to the best cattle or best home-made jam, while a judge at a dog show determines which of several dogs best meets the standards for the breed. ==Judges in the legal system== United_Kingdom_legal_system.">Image:Jamaciajudge.jpg|framed|right|Many judges all over the world continue to wear wigs, a tradition imported from the United Kingdom legal system. [[Image:Premier president ca.jpg|thumb|right|French appeal and court of cassation judges, in solemn and Assize Court hearings, wear a red gown with a hermine fur bordering.]] Judges are considered to be the leaders of one of the three Separation of powers, the judiciary. In a democratic country with a rule of law, judges are supposed to be impartial, and not influenced by the political power (see separation of powers); especially, political leaders and the executive should not be able to influence judgment in a direction that they see fit. In the United States, judges are not trained separately from lawyers and are generally appointed or elected from among practicing attorneys. In most civil law jurisdictions judges go to special schools to be trained after graduating with a legal degree from a university; after such training they become investigative judges, see inquisitorial system. In common law countries, judges usually operate according to the adversarial system of justice under the applicable rules of civil procedure. In the common law system, when there is a jury trial, the judge generally decides issues of law, i.e. which law applies and what the law requires, while the jury decides facts, i.e who did what, who is guilty, what is the amount of damages. A court trial is before a judge only. In Finland, there are two kinds of judges in district courts: a legally trained judge functions as the president of the court, while judges elected for a four-year term from the population, without any special legal training, serve as lay members of the court. Judges in special courts and apellate courts are always legally trained. Lay judges do not function like a common-law jury. In the usual case, three lay judges in district courts hear criminal cases in cooperation with a legally trained judge, each judge – legally trained or not – having an individual vote. Civil cases, however, are heard exclusively by legally trained judges. Historically, in Europe in the Middle Ages, juries often stated the law by consensus or majority and the judge applied it to the facts as he saw them. This practice generally no longer exists. Notably, while some common law jurisdictions retain the jury system, civil law has often abandoned the jury in favor of a judge-based system. ==Symbols of Office== Being a judge is usually a prestigious position in society, and as a result a variety of solemn traditions have become associated with the occupation. In most nations of the world judges wear long robes, usually black or red, and sit on an elevated platform during trials (known as the bench). The standard judge uniform originated with the Rome toga. In some countries, notably United Kingdom, judges also wear long wigs and colorful robes. American judges usually always wear simple black robes and wield a gavel to keep order in the courtroom. However, in some Western states, like California, judges did not always wear robes during the Wild West days in the 19th century. Today, the Maryland Court of Appeals is the only state supreme court that deviates from the standard uniform; its seven judges wear red robes. In the People's Republic of China, judges wore regular street clothes until 1984, when they began to wear military style uniforms, which were intended to demonstrate authority. These uniforms were replaced in 2000 by black robes similar to those worn in the rest of the world. ==Nomenclature== In most English (language) speaking countries (particularly the United States) a judge is addressed as "Your Honor" when presiding over the judge's court, as a sign of respect for the office. Because of the broadcasting of US fictions in movies and television worldwide, some defendants in other countries occasionally address judges from their own country as "your honor" (or, rather, the translation thereof in the local language), much to the dismay of the local judiciary. In France, the presiding judge of a court is addressed to as "Mr/Mrs President" (''Monsieur le pr�sident'' / ''Madame le pr�sident'' when adressing a woman; ''Madame la pr�sidente'' is also used nowadays under feminist pressure). The judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, and the judges of the supreme courts of several U. S. states and other countries are called "justices." In the United Kingdom, a comparable rank is held by the House of Lords; its judges are not called judges, but Law Lords, and sit in the House of Lords as peerages. The justices of the supreme courts usually hold higher offices than the justice of the peace, a judge who holds police court in some jurisdictions and who typically tries small claims court and misdemeanors. However, the state of New York inverts the usual order, with the Supreme Court of the State of New York being the trial court, and the Court of Appeals being the highest court; thus, New York trial judges are called "justices," while the judges on the Court of Appeals are "judges." New York judges who deal with trusts and estates are known as "Surrogates." Judges of courts of limited jurisdiction (such as bankruptcy courts or juvenile courts) were sometimes known officially as "referees," but this usage seems to be declining. Judges sitting in courts of equity in common law systems are called "chancellors." ==Famous and Infamous Judges== Listed chronologically by date of birth. {| style="text-align: left" border="0" cellspacing="4" cellpadding="0" |- |

|- |Thomas More |( 1478 – 1535 ) |England humanist author |- |Edward Coke |( 1552 – 1634 ) |England colonial entrepreneur and jurist |- |Francis Bacon |( 1561 – 1626 ) |England philosopher, statesman, essayist |- |Matthew Hale (jurist) |( 1609 – 1676 ) |Lord Chief Justice of England |- |George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys |( 1648 – 1689 ) |Baron of Wem, Wales "Hanging Judge" |- |Ooka Tadasuke |( 1677 – 1752 ) |Incorruptable and imaginative Japan Judge |- |

|- | John Pickering |( 1737 – 1805 ) |First US Federal Judge to be removed from office |- | John Jay |( 1745 – 1829 ) |1st Chief Justice of the United States |- |William Cooper (judge) |( 1754 – 1817 ) |Father of writer James Fenimore Cooper |- |John Marshall |( 1755 – 1835 ) |4th Chief Justice of the United States |- |

|- |Redmond Barry |( 1813 – 1880 ) |United Kingdom judge of colonial Australia |- |Roy Bean |( 1825 – 1903 ) |Texas saloonkeeper and justice of the peace |- |Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. |( 1841 – 1935 ) |Progressive US Supreme Court justice |- |Louis Brandeis |( 1856 – 1941 ) |Leader of American Zionist movement |- |Kenesaw Mountain Landis |( 1866 – 1944 ) |1st commissioner of Major League Baseball |- |Learned Hand |( 1872 – 1961 ) |Coined the term calculus of negligence |- |Owen Dixon |( 1886 – 1972 ) |Australia judge of colonial Australia |- |Earl Warren |( 1891 – 1974 ) |14th Chief Justice of the United States |- |Alfred Denning, Baron Denning |( 1899 – 1999 ) |United Kingdom barrister and Master of the Rolls |- |

|- |Roger J. Traynor |( 1900 – 1980 ) |Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court |- |Thurgood Marshall |( 1908 – 1993 ) |1st African-American on US Supreme Court |- |Joseph Wapner |( 1919 – ____ ) |''The People's Court'' judge |- |James Pickles |( 1925 – ____ ) |United Kingdom judge turned tabloid columnist |- |Richard Posner |( 1939 – ____ ) |US Court of Appeals judge |- |Judge Judy (Judith Sheindlin ) |( 1942 – ____ ) |syndicated TV show judge |- |Lance Ito |( 1950 – ____ ) |Los Angeles Superior Court judge |- |Rodney Melville |( ____ – ____ ) |Santa Barbara County, California Superior Court judge |- |

|} ==Famous Fictional Judges== This list includes both judges from the world of fiction, as well as people who use the prefix 'Judge' but who are not actually judges. *Judge Di *Judge Dredd (see also Judge (2000 AD)) *Judge Jules *Judge Nutmeg See also judiciary, court dress, list of jurists, barrister, solicitor, attorney Legal occupations Professions la:Iudex

Judge

judge jules and judge dread exist, but they are not really judges! hence fictional :) User:Steeev 23:14, 4 Dec 2003 (UTC) :Thats why I added "or not real" to the heading! Cheers :-) User:Quercusrobur 23:17, 4 Dec 2003 (UTC) :: oops sorry, didnt read before i wrote or look before i leaped :) User:Steeev 23:19, 4 Dec 2003 (UTC) :: then again fictional and not real, could be deemed to mean the same thing ;-) User:Steeev 23:20, 4 Dec 2003 (UTC) ---- We have got Judge, which includes a list, and List of jurists, not to mention several separate lists by jurisdiction. Needs sorting out. Any proposals? User:Cutler 00:42, Dec 9, 2004 (UTC) If one day I have time, I'll move the dress of French judges to Court dress, but... User:David.Monniaux 18:37, 17 Mar 2005 (UTC) Can someone seperate a page for "Judge" the Anime, which links right here? - i've watched the anime and can start a page, but i'm not sure how to physically create a new page. 1:30 2nd June 2005 (GMT)

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