Part 2 - Automatic restrictions on media reports of preliminary hearings in indictable-only and either-way cases at magistrates courts

Question 1

Outline the allocation procedure for either-way cases.

Answer 1

An either-way case will have at least one preliminary hearing in a magistrates’ court and if the defendant indicates denial of the charge, the allocation procedure will take place.

• defendant is asked, usually in first hearing, to indicate how he/she intends to plead
• a defendant’s indication of an intention to plead is automatically treated as a formal plea of guilty, convicting him/her of that offence. If this is the only charge, section 52A restrictions automatically lapse as there will be no trial. Magistrates sentence or refer to Crown court for sentencing
• if a defendant indicates that he/she will plead not guilty, magistrates decide whether he/she should be offered option of summary trial. This ‘allocation’ decision primarily based on whether magistrates decide they have sufficient power to punish defendant if they convict him/her.

Question 2

What is ‘sending for trial’?`

Answer 2

Most serious crimes cannot be tried by magistrates so they are ‘sent for trial’ at a Crown court.

Question 3

What is ‘committal for sentence’?

Answer 3

Where, if a defendant indicates intention to plead guilty, magistrates have insufficient power to punish and so decide that the case should be committed for sentence at Crown court.

Question 4

What is the purpose of reporting restrictions in Section 52A of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998?

Answer 4

This limits what the media can publish contemporaneously from a preliminary hearing concerning an indictable-only case or an either-way case which retains potential for trial. The concern is that people reading or hearing information reported from a preliminary hearing might include some who later will be called to be jurors in that case.

Question 5

What is the scope of Section 52A restrictions?

Answer 5

What can be published is limited to:

1. name of the court and magistrate’s names
2. accused’s name, age, home address and occupation
3. the charge(s) in full or summarised
4. in the case of an accused charged with ‘serious or complex’ fraud, any ‘relevant business information’
5. the names of counsel and solicitors engaged in the proceedings
6. if proceedings are adjourned, the date and place to which they are adjourned
7. ‘arrangements as to bail’ - whether bail was granted and, if so, any conditions and surety arrangements
8. whether legal aid was authorised to pay for the defendant(s) to be represented by a lawyer

The scope permits saying that a case has been ‘sent for trial’ to the relevant Crown court.

Question 6

When do Section 52A reporting restrictions apply?

Answer 6

From the preliminary hearing at a magistrates’ court concerning any indictable-only or either-way case which retains potential for trial.

Question 7

When do Section 52A reporting restrictions cease to apply?

Answer 7

1. if a magistrates’ court lifts the restrictions
2. they lapse if it is clear there will be no trial
3. they lapse after the last trial ends or if the case does not proceed

Question 8

What is it safe to report during preliminary hearings at magistrates’ courts, even when Section 52A restrictions apply?

Answer 8

Basic protestations of innocence/indications of not guilty plea, and/or that the defendant has chosen to be tried by a jury, and bland ‘scene-setting’ material.

Question 9

What do Section 52A reporting restrictions NOT apply to?

Answer 9

The actual trial.

Question 10

Aside from magistrates’ courts, which other preliminary court proceedings do Section 52A restrictions apply to?

Answer 10

Preliminary youth court proceedings in which there is a serious case - those retaining potential of being tried at Crown court or which must be dealt with at Crown court. These restrictions do not apply to the actual trial.