"be judge and jury" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "In most jurisdictions that practice jury trials, the defendant's guilt is determined by jury, while his or her sentence is determined by the trial judge. An authority that can exercise the powers of a jury and judge therefore lacks a balance of power.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "is judge and jury",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "being judge and jury",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "was judge and jury",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "been judge and jury",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "<is,being,was,been>"
      },
      "expansion": "be judge and jury (third-person singular simple present is judge and jury, present participle being judge and jury, simple past was judge and jury, past participle been judge and jury)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              131,
              148
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2026 March 18, Philip Haigh, “Early thoughts on track access and charges”, in RAIL, number 1057, page 22:",
          "text": "The fear from operators that sit outside GBR [Great British Railways], chiefly freight and open access operators, is that GBR will be judge and jury in any future system and can simply decide to do what it wants.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "As an authority, to have the power to make a decision affecting someone or an organisation by oneself."
      ],
      "id": "en-be_judge_and_jury-en-verb-EgWkAvQz",
      "links": [
        [
          "authority",
          "authority"
        ],
        [
          "power",
          "power"
        ],
        [
          "decision",
          "decision"
        ],
        [
          "affect",
          "affect"
        ],
        [
          "organisation",
          "organisation"
        ],
        [
          "oneself",
          "oneself"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "judge, jury and executioner"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "be judge and jury"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "In most jurisdictions that practice jury trials, the defendant's guilt is determined by jury, while his or her sentence is determined by the trial judge. An authority that can exercise the powers of a jury and judge therefore lacks a balance of power.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "is judge and jury",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "being judge and jury",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "was judge and jury",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "been judge and jury",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "<is,being,was,been>"
      },
      "expansion": "be judge and jury (third-person singular simple present is judge and jury, present participle being judge and jury, simple past was judge and jury, past participle been judge and jury)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "judge, jury and executioner"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              131,
              148
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2026 March 18, Philip Haigh, “Early thoughts on track access and charges”, in RAIL, number 1057, page 22:",
          "text": "The fear from operators that sit outside GBR [Great British Railways], chiefly freight and open access operators, is that GBR will be judge and jury in any future system and can simply decide to do what it wants.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "As an authority, to have the power to make a decision affecting someone or an organisation by oneself."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "authority",
          "authority"
        ],
        [
          "power",
          "power"
        ],
        [
          "decision",
          "decision"
        ],
        [
          "affect",
          "affect"
        ],
        [
          "organisation",
          "organisation"
        ],
        [
          "oneself",
          "oneself"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "be judge and jury"
}