Criminal Courts

• Classification of offences:

  • summary
  • triable either way
  • indictable
• summary offence- an offence that can be only be tried in the Magistrates Court.

  • driving without insurance, common assault
• triable either way offences- a offence that can be tried wither in Magistrates Court of Crown Court.

  • theft. s47
• indictable offence- an offence that has to be tried in Crown Court.

  • murder, manslaughter, robbery
• Magistrates Court:

  • local courts in almost every town.
  • limited by sentences they can give, it is 6 months for a single offence or 12 for multiple.
  • either qualified district judges of unqualified lay justices.
• Jurisdiction of Magistrates Courts:

  • all summary cases
  • any triable either way offences where magistrates are prepared and defendant accepts this
  • deal with preliminary hearings
  • deal with side matters connected to criminal cases
  • try cases in Youth cases aged 10-17
• Magistrates court can appeal to the Crown Court or to administrative court in the Queens Bench division.
• Magistrates appeal to crown court:

  • only available to the defence.
  • if d pleaded guilty then they can only appeal against their sentence whereas if they pleaded not guilty they can appeal against conviction and sentence.
  • Case is completely reheard by a judge and 2 magistrates.
  • when appeal is against sentence they can increase of decrease it but only up to the powers of magistrates.
• Magistrates appeal to Administrative Court:

  • a case states appeal is an appeal on a point of law and can be used by both prosecution and the defence.
  • against a conviction or against an acquittal.
  • case can be sent to a panel of 2 high court judges known as the Queens Bench Divisional Court.
• Magistrates appeal to the Supreme Court:

  can only be made if;

  • the Divisional Court certifies that a point of law of general public importance is involved and
  • the divisional court or supreme court gives permission to appeal because the point of law is one which ought to be considered by the Supreme Court.
• The crown court:

  currently sits in about 90 different centres throughout England and Wales. Each year they deal with around 80,000 cases.

  • triable either way offences where D has been elected to be tried in crown Court or magistrates have decided it is too serious for them.
  • all indictable offences
  • appeals from the Magistrates Court

  Heard by a judge and a jury of 12.
• Appeals from Crown Court by defendant:

  • must get leave to appeal from court of appeal to save courts time. Application is considered by a single judge of court of appeal in private.
  • grounds for appeal- Criminal Appeal Act 1995 simplified the grounds for appeal and now states that the court shall allow an appeal against conviction if they think it is unsafe and shall dismiss such an appeal in any other case.
• Appeals from Crown Court by the prosecution:

  • against a judge's ruling which was given in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and ensures that an error of law by the judge doesn't lead to an acquittal.
  • against acquittal- only 2 situations;

  1. where the acquittal was the result of the jury being 'nobbled'
  2. when there is new and compelling evidence of the acquitted person's guilt and it is in public interest for D to be retried.

  Director of public prosecutions has to consent to the reopening of investigations of the case.

  2011- Stephen Lawrence case
• Appeals from crown court by prosecution:

  • referring a point of law- where the judge may have made an error in explaining the law to the jury they can appeal this if the defendant is acquitted. under s36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1972.
  • against sentence- under s36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 the attorney general can apply for leave to refer an unduly lenient sentence to the court of appeal for re sentencing.
• Further appeals to the Supreme Court:

  Both prosecution and defence may appeal from the court of appeal to the supreme court but it is necessary to have the case certified as involving a point of law of general public importance and to get permission to appeal.