Major Criminal Courts in the UK - Essay Example

Crown Court & Magistrates’ Court Number Department Introduction There are several types of courts in the United Kingdom and the world over. In the United Kingdom, there are two major divisions of the court systems: civil courts and criminal courts and criminal courts. The criminal court system contains the crown courts and the magistrates’ court. Together with the Court of Appeal and the High Court of Justice, the Crown Court [of England and Wales] is one of the constituents of the Senior Courts of England and Wales. This makes the Crown Court the higher court of prime instance in criminal cases. Nevertheless, for some purposes, the Crown Court remains hierarchically ancillary to the High Court and Divisional Courts which fall under the High Court, on one hand. On the other hand, the Magistrates’ Court stands and operates as a lower court where all proceedings of criminal trials start from. Civil matters, particularly, family proceedings may also start at the Magistrates’ Court. The Magistrates’ Court have been streamlined and modified to help in fast and cheap delivery of justice. In England and Wales alone, there are 360 Magistrates’ Courts. The foregoing clearly shows that there are similarities and differences in the manner in which magistrates’ Courts and Crown Courts operate and the different roles they dispense. Also known as Justices of the Peace, magistrates serve as unpaid trained members of the local community. This is because magistrates are local people who volunteer their services to the community. According to Macnair (2007, 678-679), although magistrates will not require formal legal qualifications, yet they are required to undertake a training programme including prison and court visits, in order to help magistrates acquire necessary skills. Magistrates are given procedural and legal advice by qualified clerks. On the converse, District and Crown Court judges are strictly qualified, full-time professionals on payroll and usually, are based in larger cities. Again, unlike magistrates’ court judges, District and Crown Court judges attend to more sensitive and complex court cases. Presently, there are about 30,000 magistrates, 150 district judges and 170 deputy district judges who operate in the approximately 330 magistrates’ courts in Wales and England. Given that magistrates do not need legal qualifications to discharge their duties, they are advised and helped in court on legal procedures and matters of law and legal practice by Justices’ Clerks. Assistant Justices’ Clerks also partake in this responsibility (Bell and Dadomo, 2006, 339). Unlike Crown Court judges, magistrates preside over less serious criminal cases such as motoring offences, the failure to pay council tax, TV licenses and vehicle excise license and misdemeanor. Magistrates may therefore commit to Crown Courts, more serious cases such as murder, rape and manslaughter. The same judges may deal with lighter legal duties such as enforcement of court fines, search warrants, court fines and right of entry applications. According to Carlen (1975, 378), cases may be brought to magistrates’ courts by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). In the event that a defendant has pleaded not guilty, a trial may be held, with the magistrates listening to, viewing and analyzing the evidence that has been adduced before the court of law, deciding on agreed facts and facts [which are] in dispute and considering whether the case has been proven beyond reasonable doubt. In case a suspect has been found guilty or the suspect has entered a guilty plea, the magistrates may proceed to issue a court sentence by using sentencing guidelines and structured decision making processes which define the expected penalty for typical offences. The magistrate judges will also take note of case law and practice directions from higher courts and are also given advice in court by a legally qualified and competent adviser (Riddle and Jones, 2013, 750). In the event that a single criminal offence has been committed by an adult, a magistrate’s sentencing powers may become more comprehensive. These sentencing powers may consequently include the imposition of: court fines; probation orders or a period not exceeding six months in custody [a total of 12 months in case of multiple offences] and Community Payback orders. In another wavelength, a magistrate may also sit and serve in the Crown Court with a judge to hear appeals emanating from magistrates’ courts against a sentence, a proceedings or conviction on committal to the Crown Court for sentence. Douglas (1988, 275) and Hart (2010, 1272-3) observe that magistrates may also specially sit in youth courts since procedures therein are more informal, when compared to adult criminal courts. In this light, magistrates may speak directly to young defendants in lieu of engaging heir legal representatives. Because of this, magistrate judges may deal with cases of juvenile delinquency, with the only exception being suicide (Ivankovic, 2010, 19). More serious offences are passed on to the Crown Court for full trial with a jury or a judge, or for sentencing after the defendant has been found guilty in a magistrates’ court. Magistrates deal with three types of cases. The first kind of cases that magistrates deal with is summary offences. Summary offences are less serious cases such as minor assaults and motoring offences where the defendant is usually not entitled to a trial by jury. Summary offences are generally disposed off in the magistrates’ court. Knafla (2011, 177) and Morrow (2011, 321) divulge that there are also either-way offences which can either be dealt with either by magistrates or a Judge and a jury at the Crown Court. These offences include theft and being in possession of stolen goods. A defendant may insist on his right to trial in the Crown Court. Magistrates may also at this stage make a decision to the effect that a case is very serious that it should be dealt with in the Crown Court. This may lead to the imposition of tougher sentences, in the event that the defendant is found guilty. There are also indictable-only offences which may include rape, robbery, manslaughter and murder. These offences may also be hears in a Crown Court. In indictable-only cases, magistrates’ courts will also decide whether to grant bail, consider other legal matters such as reporting restrictions, before passing a case on to the Crown Court. If it has been decided that a case is to be dealt with within the magistrates’ court, the defendant may be required to enter a plea. If the defendant pleads guilty, he magistrates may impose a sentence of up to 6 months’ imprisonment for a single offence. These should add and not exceed 12 months in total. The fine should also add up to, and not exceed 5,000 British pounds. In the event that the defendant is acquitted [found not guilty], defendants are also judged and declared innocent in the eyes of the law and will also be released. This act of being released from incarceration or remand is ancillary to the defendant not having any other outstanding cases against him. All the three types of cases above may either be heard by 2-3 magistrates or by one district judge. According to Tarling (2006, 35) and Stone (2011, 93), one of the fundamental differences between Magistrates’ Courts and Crown Courts is that the latter listen to indictable cases: cases which touch on offences such as rape, murder and kidnapping; while the former hear and act on either-way and/ or summary offences. In this light, a Crown Court may have a judge and a jury. Unlike the Magistrates’ Courts, Crown Court is a single entity which sits in 77 court centres that are distributed across Wales and England. The cases that Crown Court may deal with are discussed as follows. One of the criminal cases is those that have been sent for trial by magistrate’s courts, by virtue of the offences being indictable-only. Indictable-only cases are those that can only be heard or tended to by the Crown Court. Crown Court may also handle either-way offences. However, despite the fact that a magistrates’ court may also hear either-way offences, such cases may be sent strictly to the Crown Court in the event that the defendant prefers a jury trial. Defendants who have been convicted in magistrates’ courts but sent to Crown Courts may be restricted to Crown Court hearing. This is always the case when the case being handled is a serious offence. Appeals against decisions that have been arrived at the magistrates’ courts may be restricted to a Crown Court. Conversely, all court cases of criminal nature commence in a magistrate’s court. Similarly, 90% of these cases are also concluded in these cases. Unlike the magistrates’ court, the Crown Court has three types of centres, with these centres being based on the type of work that these courts deal with. In this case, there are first-tier, second-tier and third-tier centres. First-tier centres are those that are visited by High Court Judges for High Court Civil and Crown Court work. The second-tier centres are visited by High Court Judges who preside over Crown Court criminal work only. There are also third-tier centres which are usually not visited by High Court Judges. Instead, these third-tier centres handle Crown Court criminal work only (Russell, 1998, 1 and Saifee, 2007, 55). Again, unlike the magistrates’ courts, Crown Courts offences in the Crown Court are divided into three classes, with the seriousness of these cases being used as the yardstick for dividing the cases. The first class offences feature among the most serious crimes. Treason and murder feature within this rubric. The High Court Judge listens to these cases. Class 2 offences are less serous compared to Class 1 and include rape. A circuit judge may hear these cases under the authority of the Presiding Judge. Finally, Class 3 offences complete this list. Burglary, kidnapping, robbery and grievous bodily harm fall within this category and are normally tried by a recorder or a circuit judge (Sutherland and Hungerford-Welch, 2012, 703). It is important to also note that all cases are to start in the magistrates’ court, while this is not the case with Crown Courts. The only exception to this rule or tradition is the indictable-only offences. In indictable-only cases, the defendant will have to be sent to the Crown Court for a legal trial. Conversely, a defendant in either-way case who has chosen not to plead guilty can request a jury trial and will therefore be sent to the Crown Court. Even if that defendant may not request a jury trial, magistrates may decide to send them for trial in the Crown Court, in the event that the offence is a serious one (Fisher and Fouto, 2012, 5, 6). As a corollary to the above, should the defendant plead guilty to a serious either-way offence, magistrates may commit them to the Crown Court for sentencing. Another factor which disassociates Crown Courts and magistrates’ courts from each other is that of appeal. In this light, the Crown Court deals chiefly with appeals against a sentence or conviction in light of criminal offences which have been dealt with in the magistrates’ courts. These appeals may also include orders such as Anti-Social Behaviour Disorder and/ or disqualification from driving. The Crown Court may dismiss or allow the appeal, and vary an entire or any part of the sentence. Appeals are usually presided over by a Circuit Judge sitting with [normally] two magistrates. The magistrates, if more than two, cannot be more than four magistrates. References Bell, B. & Dadomo, C. 2006. “Magistrates’ Courts and the 2003 Reforms of the Criminal Justice System.” European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, 14 (4), p. 339. Carlen, P. 1975. “Magistrates’ Courts: A Game Theoretic Analysis.” The Sociological Review, 23 (2), pp. 347 – 379. Douglas, R. 1988. “Tolerated Contests? Plea and Sentence in the Victorian Magistrates’ Courts.” Journal of Criminal Justice, 16 (4), pp. 269 – 290. Fisher, T. & Fouto, C. 2012. “Negotiating Power in the Iberian Inquisitions: Courts, Crowns and Creeds.” Hispanic Research Journal, 13 (1), pp. 3 – 6. Hart, P. 2010. “Revolutionary Lawyers: Sinn Fein and Crown Courts in Ireland and Britain 1916-1923.” The English Historical Review, CXXV (516), pp. 1272 – 1273. Ivankovic, L. 2010. “Confidence & Credibility: Magistrates and Youth Offending Teams within the Youth Courts in England and Wales.” British Journal of Community Justice, 8 (1), p. 19. Knafla, L. A. 2011. “The Magistrate and Humorous Magistrates in Early-17th-Century England.” Early Theatre, 14 (2), p. 177. Macnair, M. 2007. “Equity and Conscience.” Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 27 (4), pp. 659 – 681. Morrow, J. W. 2011. “Book Review: The Magistrates’ Court: An Introduction.” International Criminal Justice Review, 21 (3), pp. 319 – 321. Riddle, H. & Jones, S. 2013. “Trial in Absence in a Magistrates’ Court (United Kingdom).” Criminal Law Review, 13 (9), p. 750. Russell, F. 1998. “Crown Court Judge Resigns.” The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 37 (1), p. 1. Saifee, F. A. 2007. “In Terrorism Appeals to the Crown Court.” The Cambridge Law Journal, 66 (1), pp. 53 – 66. Stone, N. 2011. “In Court.” Probation Journal, 58 (1), pp. 88 – 103. Sutherland, J. & Hungerford-Welch, P. 2012. “On the Application of Raeside v. Luton Crown Court.” The Criminal Law Review, 3 (9), p. 703. Tarling, R. 2006. “Sentencing Practice in Magistrates’ Court revisited.” Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 45 (1), pp. 29 – 41. Read More