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Crown Court or Magistrates' Court?

NCJ Number
140623
Journal
Research Bulletin Issue: 32 Dated: (1992) Pages: 28-33
Author(s)
D Moxon
Date Published
1992
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This study examines the types of cases handled by British magistrates' courts and the Crown Court to determine how any of the cases currently handled by the Crown Court at greater expense could be handled by the magistrates' courts.
Abstract
Minor cases, such as most traffic offenses, minor assaults, and most criminal damage, may be processed only in magistrates' courts. Serious offenses, such as manslaughter, robbery, and rape, may be processed only in Crown Courts. Between these extremes are large numbers of cases, such as theft, burglary, and most assaults, that may be addressed by either. In 1989 approximately 78 percent of these "triable-either-way" cases were dealt with by magistrates. However, although the great majority of "either-way" cases are processed in magistrates' courts, the proportion dealt with at the Crown Court doubled between 1969 and 1989. Since "either-way" cases accounted for approximately 80 percent of the total Crown Court caseload, this change had wide-ranging repercussions. It contributed to the increase in the time required for cases, and this in turn added to the number of defendants held on remand awaiting trial. The costs of Crown Court trial were also many times higher than summary trial in a magistrates' court. This examination of the cases handled by the two types of courts analyzed 2,273 cases from the magistrates' courts and 2,956 cases from the Crown Court. Details about the offense and the offender were considered. The study concluded that there was considerable scope for more cases to be handled summarily by the magistrates' courts, that it would be helpful if ways could be found to resolve issues relating to charge and plea prior to the mode of trial decision, so that many more defendants might then consent to summary trial. 6 references

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