What are the functions and structure of the criminal courts in England and Wales?
The court of first instance is the Magistrates’ Court where the maximum penalty is 6 months’ imprisonment. They deal with all summary matters and those “either-way” matters (which can be tried either in the magistrates or the Crown Court) which are deemed to not be too serious. Then there is the Crown Court which tries the more serious either-way cases and indictable-only cases, (those like murder and rape which can only be tried in the Crown Court). A judge sits with a jury in trials – the judge is the arbiter of legal issues, the jury of factual. In the magistrates’ court (the bench is made up of lay magistrates or a qualified lawyer sits as a District Judge) the magistrates are judges of both law and fact, altho they have a legally-qualified adviser to advise them on the law. A right of appeal lies on legal points or fresh evidence to the Court of Appeal (criminal division) and from there on legal points only to the House of Lords (changing soon).
