PAPER 1: Section A - Criminal Courts & Lay People [COMPLETE] Flashcards
What are the three types of criminal offences?
- Summary offences
- Indiactable offences
- Either way offences
Describe a summary offence and where is it tried? (2 marks)
- These are the least serious offences (1 mark)
- Tried in a Magistrates Court (1 mark)
Describe a indictable offence and where it’s tried? (3 marks)
- The most serious offences (1 mark)
- Tried at a crown court (1 mark) HOWEVER first preliminary hearing for indictable offences are heard at a magistrates court (1 mark)
Describe trimble either way court and what court it’s tried at (4 marks)
- The défendent is asked if they plead guilty or not (1 mark)
- If guilty: Heard at a Magistrates’ Court with no jury (1 mark)
- If not guilty: D can asked to be tried at the Crown Court with a jury OR mag can send it to crown court if the case is serious. (1 mark) If they’re found guilty they get a longer sentence (1 mark)
What is a magistrates court? Talk about everythangggg
- Magistrates are lay people and anyone can apply to be one.
- There’s one legally qualified clerk who assists the magistrates.
- In CRIMINAL CASES, the magistrates trial all SUMMARY cases and deal with preliminary hearings and 10-17 year olds in youth court.
- They issue warrants for arrests and decide bail application.
- These courts can sentence up to 6-12 months in prison or a fine.
What happens in crown court
- A jury is present and they decide if the défendant is guilty of not. The judge chooses the sentence.
- Crown Court can give out a range of sentences including life
- They also hear all indictable and triable either way offences from Magistrates Court.
What happens in High Court / Queen’s Bench Division
- They’ll hear appeals from the magistrates or crown court.
- They’ll also hear verdicts on sentencing
What happened in the Court of Appeal
- There’s the CIVIL and CRIMINAL divisions.
- The CoA look at points of law but they don’t hear the trial again. Points of law is looked at if used incorrectly (ie judge says an incorrect law to the jury).
- The CoA can also hear appeals against convictions or sentences from magistrates court or crown court.
What happens in a Supreme Court
- Highest appeal court for all UK civil / criminal cases.
- They hear appeals on arguable points of general public importance.
- Must be an important case and it could take years.
What is the court’s hierarchy
Magistrates ➡️Crown Court➡️QBD➡️CoA➡️Supreme
Pre trial procedure for summaey offences
There is a case management system which aims to complete the case at the earliest opportunity. At the first hearing, the clerk of the court will check the defendant’s name and address and take the plea -guilty or not guilty. Over 90 per cent of defendants in the Magistrates’ Court plead guilty. • Whether or not the defendant has legal representation, the magistrates will proceed to consider a sentence if the defendant has pleaded guilty. A sentencing hearing will hear the brief facts of the offence from the prosecution and any statements the defendant wishes to make. The magistrates will then decide on and announce their sentence. • In some minor driving offences, the defendant can plead guilty by post, so that attendance at court is unnecessary. • If the defendant pleads not guilty, the magistrates will try to discover the issues involved and then set a date for trial.
triable either wayoffences pre trial
The procedure is set out in the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980. Plea before venue The defendant will be asked to plead. • If the plea is guilty, the matter is automatically heard by the Magistrates’ Court and a sentencing hearing will take place in the same way as with summary offences. • If the defendant pleads not guilty, the magistrates must decide where the case will be tried and a
The defendant has no right to request a hearing at the Crown Court but the case can be sent there by the magistrates if they consider they have insufficient sentencing powers.
Mode of trial This procedure is to decide the most appropriate court for the case to be dealt with. The magistrates decide if the case is suitable for a Magistrates’ Court trial and whether they are prepared to accept jurisdiction. They must consider the nature and seriousness of the offence, their powers of punishment and any representation of the prosecution and defence. • If the case involves complex questions of law, breach of trust or offences committed by organised gangs, it should be sent to the Crown Court. • If the case is referred to the Crown Court, or the defendant chooses trial there, all pre-trial matters will be dealt with by the Crown Court
indictable offences pretrial
first hearing
The first hearing will be in the Magistrates’ Court shortly after the defendant is charged. The magistrates will deal with: • establishing the defendant’s identity • whether bail or custody should be ordered • whether the defendant should receive legal aid for representation. All further pre-trial matters will then be dealt with in the Crown Court, by a Crown Court judge sitting alone. Plea and Trial Preparation Hearing (PTPH) This takes place at the Crown Court as soon as possible after the case has been sent there from the Magistrates’ Court. An effective PTPH will: • ‘arraign’ the defendant (take the defendant’s plea) unless there is good reason not to • set a trial date • identify the issues for trial, so far as they are known at that stage • provide a timetable for pre-trial preparation and give appropriate directions for an effective trial • make provision for any Further Case Management Hearing {FCMH) that may be required to take place when it can have maximum effectiveness
The indictment This document will be prepared before trial and formally sets out the charges against the defendant. Although the defendant will have been sent for trial charged with specific crimes, the indictment can be drawn up for any further offence that the evidence reveals. In more complicated cases the indictment may have several counts (charges), each relating to a different offence. Disclosure by prosecution and defence Both prosecution and defence have to make certain points known to the other before trial. The prosecution must set out all the evidence they propose to use at the trial. They must also disclose previously undisclosed material ‘which in the prosecutor’s opinion might reasonably be considered capable of undermining the case for the prosecution against the accused’. The defence must give a written statement to the prosecution that includes: • the nature of the accused’s defence, including any legal defences intended to be relied on • any matters of fact on which issue is taken with the prosecution • any point of law to be argued, and the case authority in support • any alibi and the witnesses to support that alibi -this information allows the prosecution to run police checks on the alibi witnesses.
appeal process from the mag court to the crown court
2.2.1 Appeals from the Magistrates’ Court to the Crown Court This appeal is only available to the defence. • If the defendant pleaded guilty at the Magistrates’ Court, then an appeal can only be made 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 magistrates’ maximum powers for the case. • If the defendant pleaded not guilty and was convicted, an appeal can be made against conviction and/or sentence. The Crown Court, consisting of a judge sitting with two lay magistrates, will hold a complete rehearing of the case including any evidence that was not available in the Magistrates’ Court. They can confirm or vary the conviction and/or sentence or find the defendant guilty of a lesser offenc
case stated appeals and
These are appeals on a point of law that go to the Queen’s Bench Divisional Court, either directly from the Magistrates’ Court or following an appeal to the Crown Court. Both the prosecution and the defence can use this appeal route. The magistrates (or the Crown Court) are asked to state the case by setting out their findings of fact and their decision. The appeal is argued on the basis of what the law is on those facts; no witnesses are called. The appeal is usually heard by a panel of two or three judges. The approach will be that the magistrates came to a wrong decision because they made a mistake about the law. The Divisional Court may confirm, vary or reverse the decision, or send the case back for the magistrates to implement the decision on the law. There are usually fewer than one hundred case-stated appeals made each year. There is a possibility of a further appeal to the Supreme Court such as in C v OPP (1994). Case study C v DPP {1994) A boy of 13 was convicted in the Magistrates’ Court of interfering with a motorcycle with intent to commit theft or to take and drive it away without consent. The appeal concerned the presumption of criminal responsibility of children between the ages of 10 and 14. Until this case, it had been accepted that such a child could only be convicted if the prosecution proved that the child knew he was doing wrong. The Divisional Court held that times had changed, children were more mature and the rule was not needed. The case was further appealed to the House of Lords who overruled the Divisional Court, holding that the law was still that a child of this age was presumed not to know they were doing wrong, and therefore not to have the necessary intention for any criminal offence. The original conviction was confirmed.