Judge

Judge

A judge is an official who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open court. The judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the parties of the case, assesses the credibility and arguments of the parties, and then issues a ruling on the matter at hand based on his or her interpretation of the law and his or her own personal judgment. In some jurisdictions, the judge's powers may be shared with a jury. In inquisitorial systems of criminal investigation, a judge might also be an examining magistrate.

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Famous quotes containing the word judge:

    “To grow wiser means to learn to know better and better the faults to which this instrument with which we feel and judge can be subject.”
    —G.C. (Georg Christoph)

    “To judge the appearances we receive of things, we should need a judicatory instrument; to verify this instrument, we should need a demonstration; to rectify this demonstration, we should need an instrument: so here we are arguing in a circle.
    Seeing the senses cannot decide our dispute, being themselves full of uncertainty, we must have recourse to Reason; there is no reason but must be built upon another reason, so here we are retreating backwards to all eternity.”
    —Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)

    “We judge a horse not only by its pace on a racecourse, but also by its walk, nay, when resting in its stable.”
    —Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)