Not a court of law? Then why am I wearing a robe and powdered wig? 
Nobody said anything about lawyers. There are two sides to every story and listening to both sides being argued won't hurt anyone or cause the sky to come crashing down over BM. There could just be one person making these decisions behind the scenes, but presumably the purpose of the Magistrate forum is to ensure that both sides are heard.
The main point of the Magistrates is, if I remember correctly, to provide more transparency into the decision making process then we had with the Titan system. To be honest the amount of time dedicated to discussions and "building" cases far exceeds what I recall being the intent. Most cases should be able to be summed up by 2-3 posts really. Part of the problem seems to be that to give the Magistrates enough time to make sure they have all had time to look at and consider the case (remember these are all volunteers) the verdict takes a while, and people post and argue over the facts until that verdict is posted.
