Magistrates' Court
Encyclopedia
A magistrates' court or court of petty sessions, formerly known as a police court, is the lowest level of court
in England and Wales
and many other common law
jurisdictions. A magistrates' court is presided over by a tribunal consisting of two or more (most commonly three) justices of the peace
(also known as magistrates) or by a district judge (formerly known as a stipendiary magistrate
), and dispenses summary justice
, under powers usually defined by statute
. The tribunal presiding over the Court is commonly referred to simply as the Bench.
and their assistants, also known as legal advisers or court clerks, whose role is to ensure that procedures are adhered to and that the Bench is properly directed as to the law and its powers, as well as seeing that the Courts' business is dealt with efficiently. The clerk's role is far more significant where lay magistrates are presiding because they are not legally trained and so require more advice on legal matters than a district judge. The clerk ought not exert any influence upon the Bench - to which the advice they provide must be neutral - but nevertheless the advice of the clerk carries considerable weight. To the end, the Practice Direction 2000 attempts to resolve issues concerning the influence of clerks over magistrates. It states that clerks should only advise on point of law and all advice should be given in open court in front of all present.
have the power to impose a sentence of youth detention
(known as a Detention and Training Order or DTO) for a period of up to two years.
They are often considered to be the workhorses of the criminal justice system in England and Wales and handle over 95 percent of the criminal cases in that jurisdiction. When an either way offence is to be tried at the Crown Court
, magistrates are responsible for committal to the Crown Court (a task in former times dealt with by a grand jury
), which requires the Court to consider whether there is a case to answer based upon statements and exhibits submitted to the court.
, they date from at least 1327, when an Act
provided that "good and lawful men" be appointed in every county in the land to guard the peace. Justices of the peace used to be noblemen or squire
s but they now are more like what Alexis de Tocqueville
described in Democracy in America
as "well-informed citizens". In England and Wales
, the term "lay magistrate" is discouraged as it possibly gives the false impression there are two types of magistrate: lay and professional. In the magistrate's court, the presiding roles are either district judges or magistrates.
system, which still exists in the United States
, has been abolished in England and Wales. Instead magistrates now perform the grand jury’s functions of indicting
those accused of offences
which need to be tried by a jury
and committing them to the Crown Court
for trial.
Magistrates' court cases in England & Wales are mostly prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service
(CPS), and a CPS representative will always be present at magistrates' courts in order to prosecute these cases. A minority of cases are prosecuted by other law enforcement agencies, such as HM Revenue and Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions
or the Health and Safety Executive
, or private prosecutors such as the RSPCA, and in such cases a solicitor
or barrister
will attend especially to prosecute.
Defendants are entitled to represent themselves, and often do so in minor cases such as Road Traffic offences. However, it is more usual for a defendant to be represented by a solicitor or barrister. In most magistrates' courts there will be a duty solicitor
available to represent any defendant who does not have his/her own solicitor.
addresses the chair of the Bench as "Sir" or "Madam".
having been charged with an offence and compelled to attend court under penalty; in response to a summons, which requires attendance but does not, in the first instance, carry any penalty for non-attendance; or in custody, having been refused bail by the police. If the defendant is on bail, s/he must first surrender to the custody of the court, which generally means stepping inside the dock of the court which is usually locked until the hearing is concluded.
Whichever the circumstance, the first requirement is to identify him/herself to the Court. Once the Court is satisfied as to the identity of the defendant, it must consider the charges. If the charge(s) is a summary offence
, the Court will generally expect a plea to be taken. If the plea is one of "not guilty", the Court will fix a date for trial, taking into account the number and availability of the witnesses.
If the charge is an either way offence, the "plea before venue" procedure is carried out. In this procedure, the defendant must indicate what his/her plea to the charge would be. If the defendant indicates a plea of "not guilty", or declines to indicate a plea, the Court hears an outline of the facts from the prosecution and representations from the defendant or his representative, and then determines whether the case is suitable for summary trial or not. The Court will decline jurisdiction to try the case if it decides that the sentencing powers of the magistrates' court are inadequate to deal with the case. In such cases, the case will be adjourned, normally for a period of between four and eight weeks, for the prosecution to prepare the case for committal to the Crown Court. If the Court accepts jurisdiction, the defendant is still entitled to elect to have his/her case tried at the Crown Court.
In the case of offences which are indictable only, no plea is taken and the case is sent forthwith to the Crown Court
.
In the event of a plea of guilty, the Court will then consider sentence. For the most minor offences where the appropriate sentence is one of a fine or discharge, this will usually follow immediately after the plea of guilty. However, where the offence is more serious and may justify a community-based penalty (such as unpaid work, a curfew
, or a drug rehabilitation course) or imprisonment, the case will usually be adjourned for the probation
service to interview the defendant and prepare a pre-sentence report in which a recommendation as to the most appropriate sentence will be made. When the defendant returns to court for sentence, the Bench will consider the report along with any mitigation put forward by the defendant before passing sentence. Magistrates have the power to impose sentences of up to six months imprisonment for one either-way offence, and to impose consecutive sentences for multiple either-way offences up to a maximum of twelve months.
In some serious cases, the Court may commit the defendant to the Crown Court for sentence where there are greater powers of punishment.
On each occasion that a defendant appears before the Court, the issue of bail
must be addressed. Defendants may be released on bail, which is an order of the Court compelling a defendant's future attendance, which may have conditions attached to it where such conditions are considered necessary either to ensure the defendant's future attendance, prevent the commission of further offences, or prevent the obstruction of justice. If the Court decides that no conditions exist which could achieve these objectives, the Court may remand the defendant in custody until the next hearing.
case, exists on the basis of the prosecution statements. In the vast majority of cases this will have been agreed beforehand by the defendant's representative, but where this is in dispute, the Bench must read, or have read to them, the entire prosecution case and then hear argument from the prosecution and defence before ruling on the issue. If the Court finds that there is no case to answer, the matter is discharged; if not, the case is committed to the Crown Court for trial.
Courts of England and Wales
Her Majesty's Courts of Justice of England and Wales are the civil and criminal courts responsible for the administration of justice in England and Wales; they apply the law of England and Wales and are established under Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.The United Kingdom does not have...
in England and Wales
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
and many other common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
jurisdictions. A magistrates' court is presided over by a tribunal consisting of two or more (most commonly three) justices of the peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
(also known as magistrates) or by a district judge (formerly known as a stipendiary magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
), and dispenses summary justice
Summary justice
Summary justice refers to the trial and punishment of suspected offenders without recourse to a more formal and protracted trial under the legal system...
, under powers usually defined by statute
Statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...
. The tribunal presiding over the Court is commonly referred to simply as the Bench.
Legal adviser
Magistrates and district judges are assisted in court by the justices' clerkJustices' clerk
A justices' clerk is an official of the magistrates' court in England and Wales whose primary role is to provide legal advice to justices of the peace .- History :...
and their assistants, also known as legal advisers or court clerks, whose role is to ensure that procedures are adhered to and that the Bench is properly directed as to the law and its powers, as well as seeing that the Courts' business is dealt with efficiently. The clerk's role is far more significant where lay magistrates are presiding because they are not legally trained and so require more advice on legal matters than a district judge. The clerk ought not exert any influence upon the Bench - to which the advice they provide must be neutral - but nevertheless the advice of the clerk carries considerable weight. To the end, the Practice Direction 2000 attempts to resolve issues concerning the influence of clerks over magistrates. It states that clerks should only advise on point of law and all advice should be given in open court in front of all present.
Offences and role
Magistrates' courts deal with minor offences (generally, fines of up to £5,000 and imprisonment of up to 6 months.). However, when dealing with two or more offences, a magistrates' court has the power to impose a sentence of up to a year if at least two of the offences are triable either way. For certain specified offences, maximum fines permitted to magistrates may be higher (for example, for fly tipping up to £50,000.) Magistrates sitting in a Youth CourtJuvenile court
A juvenile court is a tribunal having special authority to try and pass judgments for crimes committed by children or adolescents who have not attained the age of majority...
have the power to impose a sentence of youth detention
Youth detention center
A youth detention center, also known as a juvenile detention center , juvenile hall or, more colloquially as juvie, is a secure residential facility for young people, often termed juvenile delinquents, awaiting court hearings and/or placement in long-term care facilities and programs...
(known as a Detention and Training Order or DTO) for a period of up to two years.
They are often considered to be the workhorses of the criminal justice system in England and Wales and handle over 95 percent of the criminal cases in that jurisdiction. When an either way offence is to be tried at the Crown Court
Crown Court
The Crown Court of England and Wales is, together with the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal, one of the constituent parts of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
, magistrates are responsible for committal to the Crown Court (a task in former times dealt with by a grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
), which requires the Court to consider whether there is a case to answer based upon statements and exhibits submitted to the court.
Lay magistrates
Some common law jurisdictions continue to maintain a lay magistracy: those magistrates who are not legally trained. In EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, they date from at least 1327, when an Act
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
provided that "good and lawful men" be appointed in every county in the land to guard the peace. Justices of the peace used to be noblemen or squire
Squire
The English word squire is a shortened version of the word Esquire, from the Old French , itself derived from the Late Latin , in medieval or Old English a scutifer. The Classical Latin equivalent was , "arms bearer"...
s but they now are more like what Alexis de Tocqueville
Alexis de Tocqueville
Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville was a French political thinker and historian best known for his Democracy in America and The Old Regime and the Revolution . In both of these works, he explored the effects of the rising equality of social conditions on the individual and the state in...
described in Democracy in America
Democracy in America
De la démocratie en Amérique is a classic French text by Alexis de Tocqueville. A "literal" translation of its title is Of Democracy in America, but the usual translation of the title is simply Democracy in America...
as "well-informed citizens". In England and Wales
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
, the term "lay magistrate" is discouraged as it possibly gives the false impression there are two types of magistrate: lay and professional. In the magistrate's court, the presiding roles are either district judges or magistrates.
Indictment
The grand juryGrand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
system, which still exists in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, has been abolished in England and Wales. Instead magistrates now perform the grand jury’s functions of indicting
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
those accused of offences
Indictable offence
In many common law jurisdictions , an indictable offence is an offence which can only be tried on an indictment after a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is a prima facie case to answer or by a grand jury...
which need to be tried by a jury
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
and committing them to the Crown Court
Crown Court
The Crown Court of England and Wales is, together with the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal, one of the constituent parts of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
for trial.
Magistrates' court cases in England & Wales are mostly prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service
Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in England and Wales. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in Scotland, and the...
(CPS), and a CPS representative will always be present at magistrates' courts in order to prosecute these cases. A minority of cases are prosecuted by other law enforcement agencies, such as HM Revenue and Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions
Department for Work and Pensions
The Department for Work and Pensions is the largest government department in the United Kingdom, created on June 8, 2001 from the merger of the employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security and headed by the Secretary of State for Work and...
or the Health and Safety Executive
Health and Safety Executive
The Health and Safety Executive is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. It is the body responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in England and Wales and Scotland...
, or private prosecutors such as the RSPCA, and in such cases a solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
or barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
will attend especially to prosecute.
Defendants are entitled to represent themselves, and often do so in minor cases such as Road Traffic offences. However, it is more usual for a defendant to be represented by a solicitor or barrister. In most magistrates' courts there will be a duty solicitor
Duty solicitor
In the several Commonwealth countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, a duty solicitor is a solicitor whose services are available to a person either suspected of, or charged with, a criminal offence free of charge if that person does not have access to a...
available to represent any defendant who does not have his/her own solicitor.
Addressing a justice
The Bench may be addressed as "Your worships" if it consists of lay justices, or "Sir/Madam" as appropriate if a district judge is sitting. Customarily a barristerBarrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
addresses the chair of the Bench as "Sir" or "Madam".
Bail, summons or in custody
When a defendant first appears before a magistrates' court, they will do so in one of three circumstances. They will either appear on bailBail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
having been charged with an offence and compelled to attend court under penalty; in response to a summons, which requires attendance but does not, in the first instance, carry any penalty for non-attendance; or in custody, having been refused bail by the police. If the defendant is on bail, s/he must first surrender to the custody of the court, which generally means stepping inside the dock of the court which is usually locked until the hearing is concluded.
Whichever the circumstance, the first requirement is to identify him/herself to the Court. Once the Court is satisfied as to the identity of the defendant, it must consider the charges. If the charge(s) is a summary offence
Summary offence
A summary offence is a criminal act in some common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded with summarily, without the right to a jury trial and/or indictment .- United States :...
, the Court will generally expect a plea to be taken. If the plea is one of "not guilty", the Court will fix a date for trial, taking into account the number and availability of the witnesses.
If the charge is an either way offence, the "plea before venue" procedure is carried out. In this procedure, the defendant must indicate what his/her plea to the charge would be. If the defendant indicates a plea of "not guilty", or declines to indicate a plea, the Court hears an outline of the facts from the prosecution and representations from the defendant or his representative, and then determines whether the case is suitable for summary trial or not. The Court will decline jurisdiction to try the case if it decides that the sentencing powers of the magistrates' court are inadequate to deal with the case. In such cases, the case will be adjourned, normally for a period of between four and eight weeks, for the prosecution to prepare the case for committal to the Crown Court. If the Court accepts jurisdiction, the defendant is still entitled to elect to have his/her case tried at the Crown Court.
In the case of offences which are indictable only, no plea is taken and the case is sent forthwith to the Crown Court
Crown Court
The Crown Court of England and Wales is, together with the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal, one of the constituent parts of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
.
In the event of a plea of guilty, the Court will then consider sentence. For the most minor offences where the appropriate sentence is one of a fine or discharge, this will usually follow immediately after the plea of guilty. However, where the offence is more serious and may justify a community-based penalty (such as unpaid work, a curfew
Curfew
A curfew is an order specifying a time after which certain regulations apply. Examples:# An order by a government for certain persons to return home daily before a certain time...
, or a drug rehabilitation course) or imprisonment, the case will usually be adjourned for the probation
Probation
Probation literally means testing of behaviour or abilities. In a legal sense, an offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer...
service to interview the defendant and prepare a pre-sentence report in which a recommendation as to the most appropriate sentence will be made. When the defendant returns to court for sentence, the Bench will consider the report along with any mitigation put forward by the defendant before passing sentence. Magistrates have the power to impose sentences of up to six months imprisonment for one either-way offence, and to impose consecutive sentences for multiple either-way offences up to a maximum of twelve months.
In some serious cases, the Court may commit the defendant to the Crown Court for sentence where there are greater powers of punishment.
On each occasion that a defendant appears before the Court, the issue of bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
must be addressed. Defendants may be released on bail, which is an order of the Court compelling a defendant's future attendance, which may have conditions attached to it where such conditions are considered necessary either to ensure the defendant's future attendance, prevent the commission of further offences, or prevent the obstruction of justice. If the Court decides that no conditions exist which could achieve these objectives, the Court may remand the defendant in custody until the next hearing.
Committal
When dealing with committal proceedings, it is the role of the Bench to decide whether a case to answer, or prima faciePrima facie
Prima facie is a Latin expression meaning on its first encounter, first blush, or at first sight. The literal translation would be "at first face", from the feminine form of primus and facies , both in the ablative case. It is used in modern legal English to signify that on first examination, a...
case, exists on the basis of the prosecution statements. In the vast majority of cases this will have been agreed beforehand by the defendant's representative, but where this is in dispute, the Bench must read, or have read to them, the entire prosecution case and then hear argument from the prosecution and defence before ruling on the issue. If the Court finds that there is no case to answer, the matter is discharged; if not, the case is committed to the Crown Court for trial.
Challenges to decisions of magistrates' courts
There are four mechanisms under which a decision of a magistrates' court may be challenged:- reconsideration by the same magistrates' court;
- appeal to the Crown CourtCrown CourtThe Crown Court of England and Wales is, together with the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal, one of the constituent parts of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
; - appeal to the High CourtHigh Court of JusticeThe High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
(Queen's Bench Division) by way of case stated; and - judicial reviewJudicial reviewJudicial review is the doctrine under which legislative and executive actions are subject to review by the judiciary. Specific courts with judicial review power must annul the acts of the state when it finds them incompatible with a higher authority...
in the High CourtHigh Court of JusticeThe High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
(Administrative Division).
See also
- List of Courts in England and Wales
- Local justice area
- Petty sessions area
- Family Proceedings CourtFamily Proceedings CourtIn England and Wales, the Family Proceedings Court is the name given to the Magistrates' Court when members of the family panel sit to hear a family case. It is a court of first instance in England and Wales that deals with family matters...