Editing Magistrate (section)

==Continental Europe and its former colonies==
{{See also|Examining magistrate}}
Under the [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] systems of European countries, such as [[Belgium]], [[France]], [[Italy]] and the [[Netherlands]], ''magistrat'' (French), ''magistrato'' (Italian) and ''magistraat'' (Dutch) are generic terms which comprise both prosecutors and judges, distinguished as the 'standing' versus 'sitting' magistrature, respectively.

In France and Italy, and several other European countries, [[examining magistrate]] judges have represented the victim and are part of overseeing investigations from the beginning of a case, in consultation with police and prosecutors. In France they are titled investigative judge (''{{lang|fr|juge d'instruction}}'', "judge of inquiry"). Italy and some other nations have ended this practice.

In Portugal, besides being used in the scope of the [[Judiciary of Portugal|judiciary]] to designate prosecutors and judges, the term ''magistrado'' was also used to designate certain government officials, like the former civil governors of [[districts of Portugal|district]]. These were referred as "administrative magistrates", to distinguish them from the judiciary magistrates. The [[President of Portugal]] is considered the Supreme Magistrate of the Nation.

In Finland, ''maistraatti'' (the Finnish-language cognate of "magistrate", officially translated as "local register office"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.maistraatti.fi/en/|title=Startpage|first=www.maistraatti.fi -|last=toimitusneuvosto|website=www.maistraatti.fi}}</ref>) is a state-appointed local administrative office whose responsibilities include keeping [[Civil registry|population information and public registers]], acting as a [[Notary public|public notary]] and conducting civil marriages.

=== Mexico ===
In Mexico's Federal Law System, a ''magistrado'' (magistrate) is a superior judge (and the highest-ranking State judge), hierarchically beneath the Supreme Court Justices (Ministros de la Corte Suprema).

The ''magistrado'' reviews the cases seen by a judge in a second term if any of the parties disputes the verdict. For special cases, there are ''magistrados superiores'' (superior magistrates) who review the verdicts of special court and tribunal magistrates.

=== Germany ===
In Germany, the magistrational roles of the [[judge]] were transferred to a newly established legal body of the judiciary in 1942, which is that of the ''Rechtspfleger'' or judicial magistrate.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.mjv.rlp.de/Gerichte/Ordentliche-Gerichte/Oberlandesgerichte/Koblenz/Ausbildung/Rechtspfleger/ |title=Dipl. Rechtspflegerin (FH) / Dipl. Rechtspfleger (FH) |publisher=State Ministry of Justice of Rhineland-Palatinate |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402164251/ |archivedate=2 April 2015 |language=de}}<br>- Christian Shoenmackers in "Der Einstieg in den NS-Staat: 'Volksgemeinschaft' als basis für Gleichschaltung und Selbsteinbringung der Juristen"</ref>