The Bench - Law and Politics

Law and Politics

• Bench (metonymy), certain people in a given context, associated with a particular seating area, especially in politics and law
• Bench (law), the location where a judge sits while in court, often a raised desk in a courtroom; also refers to the judiciary as a whole (to differentiate from the bar (law) – the lawyers or barristers); and may also mean a group of judges hearing a case and judging on a case.
• As a specific application of the former, the panel or body of justices of the peace in a specific county under the traditional English system of magistracy.