Criminal Justice System

The Criminal justice system in England has a goal of reducing crime by bringing more offenders to justice and raise the confidence in the public that the system is working. It is important to understand how the criminal justice system in England works.

There are two different types of criminal trials, they are summary and on indictment.  The summary trials take place in the magistrate’s court, while the trials on indictment take place in the Crown court.  A criminal trial that begins in the Magistrates court can start with either the defendant being charged and brought before the Magistrates or by a summons to appear on a certain day.  When Summons is given out it is usually for a more minor charge like a traffic offense.  There are three different types of offences they include:

Indictable only: These types of offences include murder and rape which must be tried in the Crown Court on indictment. The Magistrates only part in this type of offence is that they can refer the defendant to the Crown Court and decide if they are to stay in custody or be out on bail.

Summary: Offences such as a traffic offence are included in this category. They are less serious and the majority of them are sentenced in the Magistrates Court, although a few may be sent on for trial to the Crown court in the case of an offence such as assault.

Either way: These offences are those that include theft as an example. They can be tried either way. The Magistrates my state the offence is too serious for them to deal with and decline the case to which it would then has to appear in the Crown court.

The above is only a brief example about the Criminal Justice system in England. There are many more interesting parts to it as well.