Criminal Law Process In England And Wales

Under English law there are three types trial processes in Criminal law. The types of criminal trial are "summary" or "indictment" and the third type is "either way" which is an offence that can be tried in either court. Summary trials take place in the lower court, that of the Magistrates Court. Indictment trials normally start in the Magistrates Court before they are referred to the higher court, the Crown Court for trial.

Less serious offences are dealt with in the Magistrate Court, these types of offences are called summary offences. Offences that fall into this group include low level motoring offences, minor assault, some arson cases and other low level crime such as criminal damage and taking without the drivers consent. There are limits to the types of cases that a Magistrates Court can deal with.

Crown Courts deal with the more serious criminal offences. These crimes are titled indictable offences and cover a wide range of acts. Indictable offences include, murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, blackmail and armed robbery. People charged with these offences have their first court appearance in the Magistrates court before the referral to the Crown Court. At this stage the Magistrate must decide if the defendant should be released on bail or to keep them in custody. This stage of the process is called the first appearance.
Either way cases are those that full between the two levels and can be tried by magistrates or by a Judge and Jury in a Crown Court. Magistrates can "decline jurisdiction" on cases that they believe are too serious for them to deal with. If this is the case then the case must be dealt with in the Crown Court. An adult defendant can ask for trial by jury in a crown court and the court system must agree to this.

Trials in the Magistrate Court take place in one of two ways. The most common of these is a trial that takes place before a bench of "lay magistrates". This must be made up of at least three people but they are not normally lawyers or solicitors. The less common type of Magistrates Court trial is that of a Stipendiary Magistrate. This is a case that will be heard by a district judge (a qualified lawyer) who will sit on their own. Stipendiary Magistrates tend to sit in busy court areas or on complex cases.

In the Crown Court the trial is overseen by a Circuit Judge or a High Court Judge and a jury. The status of the judge depends on the seriousness of the and complex nature of the offence. A jury is only called in the defendant enters a plea of "not guilty".

Trial by Jury has been central to English Common Law since the Magna Carta was signed by King John in 1215. In England and Wales juries are made up of 12 people aged between 18 and 70 years old. In the past a unanimous verdict was required, one on which all the jurors agreed. This has been amended to allow for majority verdicts of 10-2.

Criminal law in England is always evolving and the recent Heathrow robbery trial was the first trial without a jury in England for nearly four hundred years. The trial was carried out in front of a judge because of fears of jury tampering.

Tony Heywood (C)