P1 – Nakeeyah
Criminal offences are divided into three different categories. 1) Summary offences: these offences are deemed least serious and are always tried in the Magistrates court. These offences include nearly all driving offences, common assault and criminal damage which has cause less than £5,000 worth of damage. 2) Triable either way offences (TEW) : TEW offences are regarded as middle range of crimes and includes a large variety of offences such as theft and assault causing actual bodily harm. As the name implies, these offences can be tried in either the Magistrates Court or Crown Court. 3) Indictable offences: These are the more serious crimes such as murder, manslaughter and rape. All indictable offences must be tried in the Crown Court, but the 1st hearing is always dealt in the Magistrates Court which is then transferred to the Crown Court.

If applied to Sunita’s case, as it is a TEW offence it can be tried in either the Magistrates Court of Crown Court.

When being tried for a TEW offence, the defendant must attend a plea before venue. Under this procedure, Sunita is 1st asked whether she pleads guilty or not. If Sunita pleads guilty then she has no right to ask for her case to be heard at the Crown Court, however Magistrates may decide to send Sunita to the Crown Court for sentencing if found guilty.

Mode of trail: If Sunita pleads not guilty, the Magistrates must carry out a ‘mode of trail’ procedure to decide whether the case will be tried in the Magistrates Court or Crown Court. Magistrates first decide whether they think that the case is suitable for trail in the Magistrates Court and whether they are prepared to accept jurisdiction under s19 of the Magistrates Court Act 1980, the nature and seriousness of the crime must be considered, their own powers of punishment and any representation of prosecution and defence. Case which involve complex questions of fact or law must be sent to the Crown Court. Trails are also sent to the Crown Court if there has been breach of trust by the defendant, if the crime was committed by an organised crime or where the amount involved is more than twice the amount that the Magistrates can fine the defendant. In rare cases where the Attorney-General, Solicitor General or the Director of Public Prosecutions is the prosecutor, Magistrates must send the case to Crown Court if that is what the prosecution wants, under s19 of the Magistrates Court 1980. In other cases, prosecutions wishes are just part of the matters to be considered by Magistrates before they decide whether they are prepared to hear the case of whether it should be tried at the Crown Court.

If the magistrates are prepared to accept jurisdiction, Sunita will be told that she has a right to be tried by a jury, but may be tried by magistrates if she agrees. However, Sunita will also be warned that in a summary trial (magistrates) she is found guilty then try her the Magistrates can send her to the Crown Court for sentencing if they feel that their powers of punishment are inadequate.

There are many advantages if Sunita decides to be tried by a jury. Defendants are more likely to be acquitted at the Crown Court than in the Magistrates Court. Only 15% of defendants who plead not guilty are found not guilty in the Magistrates Court. In the Crown Court however, over 60% of defendants that plead not guilty are acquitted. The reason for this large number of acquittals in the Crown Court is as a result of the judge discharging cases or directing that the defendant is found not guilty. This happens when the prosecution drops the case or if witnesses fail to attend court so there is no evidence against the defendant. On the other hand, juries do acquit in more cases than magistrates as they acquit in 35% of cases as opposed to the 15% of acquittals in the Magistrates Court. When research was conducted they found that defendants chose to have their case tried at the Crown Court due to advice from their lawyers, the main factor being that there was more chance of an acquittal. However there are other factors that influence this decision such as a wish to serve part of their sentence in a remand prison. Another reason being that the defendant is more likely to receive legal aid meaning that the State will pay for the defendant’s legal representation. Legal representation at Crown Court must have a certificate of advocacy in order to present cases, this likely means that that the lawyer provided is more experienced at presenting cases in court.

However there are disadvantages that come with being tried by a jury. One of them being that there is usually a longer wait before the case is dealt with than for cases in the Magistrates Courts. If the defendant is not given bail, the defendant will be remanded in custody till their trail date. Nevertheless, waiting times for trails at Crown Court have reduced in the recent years. Nearly half of cases where the defendant has pleaded not guilty are dealt within 16 weeks. Another disadvantage is that the costs of the cases are much greater than cases tried in the Magistrates Court. If the defendant has to pay for their lawyers, it will be expensive. Furthermore, sometimes the defendant is ordered to pay a percentage of the prosecutions expenses which will then add a greater amount than in the Magistrates Court. As well as this, if the defendant has been found guilty the judge has the power to give them a higher sentence than the Magistrates Court.

P1 – Explain the use of the courts in the civil and criminal courts hierarchies.

a) As Keith has claimed for an amount less than £5,000, his claim will be allocated to the Small Claims Track therefore his case will be heard only in the County Count and will be heard by the District Judge. Because there is no legal aid available, the use of lawyers are often discouraged therefore the case will be dealt relatively informally. b) Bob has claimed a total amount of £12,000 therefore his case will be allocated to the Fast Track, meaning that his case will last no longer than a day and will be issued only at the County Court also. As Lord Woolf said “a strictly limited procedure designed to take cases to trail in a short but reasonable time scale at a fixed cost.” This quote is reflected through the District Judge managing the case to have a strict timetable for pre-trail matters which prevents parties to waste time and run up unnecessary costs. c) Due to Jacq claiming £80,000 her claim will be allocated to the Multi Track. If the case has started in the County Court then it is likely that it will be tried there however because she has claimed for over £50,000 the case will most likely be sent to the High Court. Multi Track cases are heard by a Circuit Judge who are also expected to manage cases. Circuit Judges also set timetables and often ask for parties to try an alternative method to settle their disputes. d) Just like Jacq, Kay’s case will be allocated to the Multi Track as she is claiming for £25,000. On the other hand because Kay is claiming for less than £50,000 her case can be heard either in the County Court or in High Court. e) As Denzil has claimed defamation, he will most likely to advised to take an informal approach of negotiation between the parties themselves or their lawyers as it is the cheapest and quickest way of resolving disputes outside the court.

Criminal Appeal Routes for Sunita.

If Sunita’s cases is tried in the Magistrates Court, her appeal will depend on whether the appeal is only on the point of law or whether it is for other reasons. The two appeal routes are the Crown Court or Queens Bench Divisional Court.

However, Sunita can decide to appeal to the Crown Court which is the normal route of appeal. This appeal route is only available to the defence. As Sunita has pleaded not guilty she an appeal against the conviction or the sentence as Sunita has automatic right to appeal. Her appeal will be heard by a judge and two magistrates; they can either come to the same decision and confirm conviction or they can decide that the case is not proved and reverse the decision. In rare cases they can come to the decision that a defendant is guilty of a lesser charge.

Civil Appeal Routes.

Small Claims: a) Appeals from the district judge’s decision are directed to Circuit Judge or the County Court. Appeals can only be made if the district judge made a mistake in the law or the process was not carried out correctly.

Appeals from County Court: a) For Fast track cases dealt with by a District Judge, the appeals are heard by a Circuit judges. b) For Fast Track cases that are dealt with by a Circuit Judge, the appeal will the heard by a High Court judge. c) For the final decisions in multi-track cases heard in the County Court, the right of appeal is to the Court of Appeal.
Appeals from the High Court: a) From a decision in the High Court, the appeal normally goes to the Court of Appeal ( Civil Division) b) There are rare “leapfrog” appeals that are direct to the Supreme Court under the Administration of Justice Act 1969. These types of appeals must involve a point of law of general public importance which can either concern statutory interpretation or a binding precedent. As well as this, the Supreme Court has to give permission to appeal.

The prosecution also have a right to appeal a verdict if consented by the Attorney-General to the Crown Court or Queens Bench of High Court, however if the jury find the defendant not guilty the prosecution can only appeal if new evidence comes to light.