criminal courts (magistrates & crown court)

Question 1

The 2 criminal courts OF first instance?…

Answer 1

a.) Magistrates court
b.) The Crown court

Question 2

Summary offences -

Answer 2

tried by Magistrates in the Magistrates Court & these are minor e.g fly tipping or speeding

Question 3

Indictable offences -

Answer 3

tried at the Crown Court by a judge & jury. These are the most serious e.g murder, manslaughter, S18 GBH, rape

Question 4

Triable either way -

Answer 4

these offences fall in between. Theft is an example as is s47 Actual Bodily Harm. They could be heard by magistrates or by a judge/jury in the Crown Court.

Question 5

Pre-trial procedure in summary offences:

Answer 5

2 key issues that a pre trial hearing will examine & decide is whether the DEFENDANT has to be granted bail and also legal aid.

Question 6

what’s bail?

Answer 6

When you are arrested & charged, you are likely to have to wait some time for your trial to come up.
Courts & police have to decide what to do with you during this “interim” time period.

• Bail is essentially when you are allowed to live “in freedom” but you might have to adhere to certain conditions eg giving up your passport, or staying away from certain people

Question 7

Another pre-trial matter is whether you should be granted legal aid…

Answer 7

Everyone under the rule of Law has the right to a fair trial.
- A financial assessment is carried out that will look at your capital & income to decide if you meet the threshold for state/Government funded assistance for legal aid.

If you do you will receive sometimes free legal advice & representation.
At other times, you may have to pay a contribution.
A publicly funded lawyer may represent you in court during your trial.
A key factor is deciding whether to grant legal funding in a serious criminal cases is whether your liberty is at stake.
This essentially means you could end up in prison or have your reputation severely damaged.

Question 8

trial procedure in summary offences:

Answer 8

The first question is to establish HOW the defendant is pleading (guilty or not)

• The majority of defendants plead guilty in the magistrate’s court and so the role/jurisdiction of the court is to decide the sentence only.
• If a defendant pleads not guilty the role/jurisdiction of the court is to try the case and decide if the person is guilty or not.

This has to be proved beyond reasonable doubt. The aim is to proceed quickly & efficiently.
The trial in this country is adversarial with the prosecution and defence presenting their cases and cross examining each other’s witnesses, with the judge acting a bit like a referee, overseeing the trial.

Question 9

Jurisdiction of magistrates with triable either way procedure:

Answer 9

a. plea before venue

b. mode of trial

c. Defendants election/choice:

Question 10

a. plea before venue

Answer 10

Once again the most important thing to establish is HOW the defendant is pleading.

• If he pleads guilty he has no right to ask to go to the crown court although the magistrates may still decide to send him there for sentence.

Question 11

b. mode of trial

Answer 11

if def pleads not guilty,, then magistrates carry out a more of trial to establish where the case will be tried.
They will first decide if the case is suitable for trial by magistrates. This will obviously be based on the seriousness of the case and the complexity of any issue that may arise and their own powers of punishment.

• complex cases involving difficult questions of fact or law should be sent to the crown court

Question 12

Defendants election/choice?

Answer 12

If the magistrates are prepared to accept jurisdiction then the defendant is then told that he has the right to choose trial by jury but may be tried by magistrates if he agrees to this course.
If he is tried by magistrates they can still send him to the crown court for sentence if they feel that their powers are insufficient.

Question 13

Choosing trial by jury:

Answer 13

Defendants pleading guilty to a triable either way offence at the magistrates court in the plea before venue procedure have not been able to choose to go to the crown court.
This is sensible since there will be no trial of the case, so the defendants are not actually losing a right to trial by jury.

Question 14

appeals to the crown court…

Answer 14

This is the normal route of appeal and is only available to the defence.

If the defendant pleaded guilty at the magistrate’s court then he can only appeal against sentence.

If the defendant pleaded not guilty and was convicted then the appeal can be against conviction and/or sentence.

In both cases the defendant has an automatic right to appeal and does not need to apply for permission.

At the crown court the case is completely re-heard by a judge and 2 magistrates. They can come to the same decision as the magistrates and confirm the conviction, or they can reverse the decision. In some cases it is possible for them to vary the decision and find the defendant guilty of a lesser offence. (CRV)

Where the appeal is against sentence the crown court can confirm the sentence or they can increase or decrease it.
However any increase can only be up to the magistrate’s maximum powers for the case.

Question 15

case stated appeals…

Answer 15

There can be an appeal on a point of law which goes to the kings Bench Divisional Court.

Both prosecution and defence can use this appeal route and it can be direct from the magistrate’s court or following an appeal to the crown court.

The appeal is then argued on the basis of what the law is on those facts, no witnesses are called.
This route is only used by the defendant against a conviction or by the prosecution against an acquittal.
It cannot be used to challenge the sentence.

The appeal is because they claim the magistrates came to the wrong decision because they made a mistake about the law.
The divisional court can confirm, vary or reverse the decision or send back the case to the magistrate’s court for the magistrates to implement the decision on the law.

Question 16

further appeals to the supreme court…

Answer 16

there is a further appeal from the KBD court to the supreme court if the divisional court certifies that a point of law of general public importance is involved or if leave to appeal is granted because the point is one which ought to be considered by the Supreme court.

Question 17

The Jurisdiction of the Crown Court is…

Answer 17

• listening to TEW cases sometimes
• all indictable cases eg: murder, rape
• Hearing appeals from magistrates on sentence/conviction or both

A judge sits alone to hear pre-trial matters where a defendant pleads guilty. However, where a defendant pleads not guilty a jury is used to decide the verdict. But the judge does:
> Control the court
> Rule on relevant issues of law
> Direct the jury on law and evidence
> Impose a sentence if the defendant is guilty.

Question 18

Pre - trial procedure for indictable offences:

Answer 18

• the first hearing starts in the Magistrates Court. They would deal with matters like legal aid, bail and then send the case immediately to the crown court.

The most serious cases are tried at the crown court. The indictiment is a document which formally sets out the charges against the defendant.

> Plea & Trial Preparation Hearing (PTP)

> Disclosure by prosecution & Defence

> Plea bargaining

Question 19

Plea & Trial Preparation Hearing (PTP)

Answer 19

This takes place at the Crown Court as soon as possible after the magistrates court hearing.

The aim is to get a plea from the defendant (guilty or not guilty), set a trial date, identify issues for the trial, provide a pre-trial preparation, make provision for further case management

Question 20

Disclosure by prosecution & Defence

Answer 20

Both sides must make certain points known to the other. This is known as disclosure.

This is really to prevent the prosecution hiding something which could help prove the innocence of the defendant.

The defence must give a written statement setting out in general terms the nature of the accused defence, any points of law that will be argued, any alibi or witnesses that can support the alibi.

Question 21

Plea bargaining:

Answer 21

This is the name given for informal discussions between defence and prosecution on whether it might be possible for the defendant to plead guilty to a lesser offence e.g from murder to manslaughter

Question 22

Main procedure of the Crown Court:

Answer 22

Where a defendant pleads not guilty the jury will decide the case by examining evidence & the judge will sentence.

A jury of 12 will sit in the jury box. They will listen to all the evidence & examine documents/photographs/listen to witnesses & take notes etc.
They can ask the judge to explain points of law to them.

Summing up speeches by the judge, prosecution & defence will take place at the end. The judge will guide the jury on points of law.

The prosecution and defence will focus on their main points.

The jury will deliberate the case & decide the facts (did it happen?) in secret.

They should seek to return a unanimous verdict, though the judge is likely to accept a majority verdict also after some time has passed.
There is no appeal against a not guilty verdict unless there is jury tampering.

Question 23

Appeals by the defendant (crown court)

Answer 23

The defendant has the possibility of appealing against conviction and/or sentence to the Court of Appeal (criminal division).

Question 24

Appeals by prosecution (crown court)

Answer 24

• against acquittal. there can be no appeal by the prosecution against a finding of not guilty by a jury. the exception is where there has been jury nobbling/tampering.

• Secondly you can appeal against acquittal since Criminal Justice Act 2003 if it is in the public interest to order a re trial. This can only happen in the most serious offences eg murder & some others. It would normally be used because compelling new evidence is found.

• Referring on a point of law. This allows the Attorney General to refer a point of law to the court of appeal in order to get a ruling on the law. This could be because a judge made an error about the law. The decision by the court of appeal on that point of law does not affect the acquittal but it creates a precedent for any future case involving the same point of law.

• Against sentence. Attorney General can refer a particularly lenient sentence back to the court of appeal. This power has been used successfully in a number of cases e.g a boy of 15 was given a supervision order for 3 yrs for raping a girl. His sentence was increased to 2 years in a young offenders institution.

Question 25

Appeals by prosecution (crown court)

Answer 25

• against acquittal. there can be no appeal by the prosecution against a finding of not guilty by a jury. the exception is where there has been jury nobbling/tampering.

• Secondly you can appeal against acquittal since Criminal Justice Act 2003 if it is in the public interest to order a re trial. This can only happen in the most serious offences eg murder & some others. It would normally be used because compelling new evidence is found.

• Referring on a point of law. This allows the Attorney General to refer a point of law to the court of appeal in order to get a ruling on the law. This could be because a judge made an error about the law. The decision by the court of appeal on that point of law does not affect the acquittal but it creates a precedent for any future case involving the same point of law.

• Against sentence. Attorney General can refer a particularly lenient sentence back to the court of appeal. This power has been used successfully in a number of cases e.g a boy of 15 was given a supervision order for 3 yrs for raping a girl. His sentence was increased to 2 years in a young offenders institution.