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Credit: By James Cridland on Flickr. Some rights reserved.

Covering Magistrates' court is a bread and butter skill for many journalists, especially on the regional press.

But the experience of reporting from court can be daunting if you've never done it before.

In this article on the BBC College of Journalism site, BBC journalist Rory Maclean explains how Magistrates' court works and the types of cases heard there, as well as any reporting restrictions which may apply.

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