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First hearings before the magistrates court - Coggle Diagram
First hearings before the magistrates court
classification of offences
triable only on
indictment
(indictable-only offence)
most serious form of criminal offence- must be tried at Crown
murder, manslaughter, causing GBH/wounding with intent, rape, robbery, aggravated burglary, blackmail, kidnap, conspiracy
mags immediately send D to Crown
triable
either way
where Act refers to 'i
ndictable offence'
refers to both classifications, where adult
must
or
may
be tried in Crown Court on indictment
dealt either at mags or crown
D NG plea at mag--> mag decided if to keep case or send to crown (if too serious)
if mag do keep case, D has right to elect trial by judge and jury in crown OR consent o mag summary trial
theft, fraud, burglary, handling stolen goods, inflciting GBH/wounding, ABH, sexual assault, affray, criminal damage, dangerous driving, possession of weapon/ intent to supply
triable only
summarily
low-value shop theft
is summary offence
goods
do not exceed £200
if D charged with more shop theft allegations,
'aggregate' value
must be under £200 to be summary
if exceeds- dealt with as either-way offences as not low-value
go to crown if crim record for similar offences
more than 6 month imprisonment
summary-only unless adult D enters NG plea - can elect trial in crown
max 6 month imprisonment when setenced in mag
if D pleads guilty, cannot go to crown for sentencing
criminal damage
as summary offence
property damages is less than 5k
, unless dmaage caused by fire (arson) or to memorial
least serious form of offence and only dealt with in mag
common asault, public order offences,taking vehicle wihtotu consent and most road traffic offence
public funding available to D
free legal advice given when it is in the
interests of justice
police station
solicitor claim one fixed payment regardless of number of attendances and time spent there
trainees can charge if accredited/probationary police station reos
work done after client charged
duty solicitor attending mag will claim costs from LAA under advocacy assistance court duty solicitor scheme
to get legal aid in mags, d needs to satisfy
interests of justice test and
means test- no money for them to pay
IOJ-
whether in the proceedings they would go to prison, lose job,
sub question of law engaged, need interviews & cross-exa, interest fo someone else for them to get LA, unable to understand court proceedings
form CRM14
completed by solicitor and discussed with client and tick app boxes
means test- automatic if on benefits etc or under 18
form CRM15
if not automatic- to show applicants income and expenses (not capital- savings)
if pass both tests, mag court grant
criminal defence representaion order
and order sent to their S
if order for summary-triable- order covers all s's work and may extend to conviction.sentence appeals to crown
if order for either way- covers proceedings in mag and crown
but no right to appeal against refusal of legal aid as a result of
if D does not pass means test and goes toc rown, funding not start until day after sending hearing and only covers work in crown and only if d passes means test in crown
if D does not pass interests tes, d may appeal by adding more info to CRM14 or requesting appeal-
defence s claims costs incurred under the rep order from LAA
Solicitor at first hearing
obtaining funding from LAA to pay for work they will do for client (unless privately funded), obtaining details of P case from CPS (summary/eitherway), taking cs statement, adivising c on strength of Ps evidence and plea the client should enter (summary/eitherway), where either-way and d pleads NG- inform d that there case may be dealt with by mag or crown and then compare both, make application for bail if necessary
first hearing
procedure depends on class of offence, plea d enters (for summary/triable either way), level of detail provided by CPS and if private/public funding secured
if d cannot enter plea (funding issues not finalised or P nto disclosed evidence) case adjourned. mag then decide if d granted bail or remanded in custody until next hearing
summary offences
if d pleads guilty
, CPS tell mag facts of face and ds record of previous convictions or if d legally rep, s give plea in mitigation on their behalf. mag then sentence d immediately or adjourn case if want more reports before sentencing d
may adjourn if d pleads guilty but disputes factual allegations made by CPS-
'Newton hearing'
happens to determine factual basis d will be sentenced
if d pleads NG
, court fix date for ds trial and issue case management directions which defence and prosecution need to comply with ebfore trial
d usually required to enter plea
whether d pleads G or NG, if case ajourned, issue of bail vs custody prior to next hearing needs to be determined
either-way offences
if d enters guilty plea, mag decided if to keep case or send to crown. case might need to be adjourned as need pre-sentence report from probation service or if decided to send d to crown, then the sentencing hearing at crown
if case is to be adjourned, mag need to determine if d released on bail or remanded in custody until next hearing
if d enters NG plea, mag must determine whether d will be tried in mag or crown- '
plea before venue and allocation procedure'
offences triable only on indictment
adult D charged with indictable offence, case will be sent straight to crown for either trial or sentence following preliminary hearing in mag
ds case will always be adjourned so mag need to determine bail or custody before next hearing in crown