criminal courts and lay people Flashcards
(18 cards)
summary offences
-magistrates court as least serious crimes
-max 6 months custodial or £5000 fine
assault or battery
triable either way offences
-magistrates or crown courts as vary in seriousness
-moves to crown court if magistrates decide too serious, jurisdiction not sufficient or D chooses trial by judge and jury
indictable offences
-crown court as most serious
-start in magistrates and then transferred to crown court
GBH s18 & murder
appeals from the magistrates
to the crown- only appeal defence, verdict or sentence, 1 judge 2 magistrates
to high court KBD- both parties can appeal mistake on the law “case stated appeal”
appeals from crown court
court of appeal by defence
court of appeal by prosecution- on a point of law, will set precedent for future cases but will not affect verdict// on an unduly lenient sentence
appeals from court of appeal
to supreme court- prosecution or defence can appeal, must have leave to appeal and must be a point of law of general public importance
aggravating factors
factors which make sentence more severe (gang activity, weapon use, discrimination, no remorse, bad character, vulnerable victim)
mitigating factors
factors which make sentence less severe (pleads guilty;up to 1/3 off sentence, shows remorse, previous good character, have mental illness, helped victim or police, returned property, was provoked)
custodial sentence
dependent serves a term of years in prison
suspended sentence
instead of immediate custodial, D given suspended, usually by 2 years, only activated if D reoffends
community order
number of requirements eg unpaid work, drug treatment, anger management, curfew
fines
max level 5 (£5000) in magistrates
discharges
conditional or unconditional
aims of sentencing
punishment of offender, repaying victim or society, reforming offender, protection of public, deterrent from committing crimes
role of magistrates
-try 97% of all criminal cases and deal with preliminary hearings in the others
-decide if D gets bail
-hear all summary, some TEW, sen indictable to SC
-decide verdict and sentence when D pleads not guilty
role of jury
-sit in crown court and try 1% cases
-listen to evidence and summing up of law
-secrecy of jury room
-decisions must be unanimous or majority
-don’t have to give reason and can’t disclose discussion
advantages of jury
-more likely to reach a just result
-panel of 12 means wider set of experiences and bias cancelled out
-are cheap
disadvantages of jury
-people can be biased and prejudiced
-media can influence decision
-fraud trials are complex and jurors may not understand trial
