FIRST HEARING IN MAGISTRATE’S
COURT
Defendants on police bail
If defendant was charged by the police, he will either:
 Come to court in custody if the police refused
to grant him bail
 Attend court to ‘answer’ his bail if he was
granted bail by the police
Defendants refused police bail
Defendant will be kept in police custody until he can
be brought before a magistrates’ court
 Will normally be either later on the day on
which the defendant was charged, or on the
following day
What happens at First Hearing
Unless the defendant is pleading guilty to the charge
and can be sentenced there and then, the most
significant part of the first hearing will be when the
court considers whether to grant the defendant bail
prior to the next hearing
If the police refused bail, it is likely that the CPS will
opposed bail being granted to the defendant
 A full bail hearing will be necessary to
determine whether the defendant should be
granted bail or remanded in custody prior to
the next hearing
INITIAL DETAILS OF THE PROSECUTION CASE (IDPC)
Crim PR, Rule 8.1
All defendants charged with an offence are entitled to receive IDPC
Crim PR, Rule 8.3
The prosecutor is required to serve an IDPC package consisting of potentially five sets of things:
(a) a summary of the circumstances of the offence;
(b) any written statements given by prosecution witnesses and exhibits, considered to be relevant by the
prosecutor to the allocation decision;
(c) any account given by the defendant in interview (i.e. a transcript or summary of any audibly recorded
interviews with the defendant in the police station;
(d) the defendant’s criminal record (if any); and
(e) any available statement of the effect of the offence on a victim, a victim’s family or others.
Crim PR, Rule 8.4
Where the CPS wishers to introduce information contained in a document that the defence is entitled to and
that document / information has not been made available to the defence, the court must not allow the
prosecutor to introduce that information unless the court first allows the defendant sufficient time to
consider it
Criminal Practice Direction 3A.12
In such cases (regardless of whether they are to be heard in the magistrates’ court or to the Crown Court),
unless there is good reason not to do so, the prosecution should make available the following material in
advance of the first hearing in the magistrates’ court:
(a) Statements and exhibits that the prosecution has identified as being of importance for the purpose of
plea or initial case management, including any relevant CCTV that would be relied upon at trial and any
Streamlined Forensic Report
(b) An indication of any medical or other expert evidence that the prosecution is likely to adduce in relation
to a victim or the defendant
(c) Any information as to special measures, bad character or hearsay, where applicable
 PROCEEDINGS COMMENCED

MAGISTRATE’S COURT FIRST HEARING

At this stage the defence solicitor should :

 obtain funding from the LAA (Legal Aid Agency) to pay for the work he will do on his client’s behalf (unless paying privately)
 obtain initial details of the prosecution case (IDPC) from the CPS
 take a statement from the client
 advise the client on the strength of the prosecution evidence and the plea that the client should enter
 in the case of an either way offence, inform the client that his case may be dealt with by either Magistrates’ Court or Crown Court and advise on
advantages of these
 make an application for bail where necessary

INDICTABLE OFFENCES

SUMMARY OFFENCES
EITHER-WAY OFFENCES
s.51(1) Crime and Disorder
GUILTY NOT GUILTY Act (CDA) 1998
GUILTY Adult defendant charged will
be sent straight to the Crown
1. Representative from the CPS will then Court for trial following a
tell the magistrates the facts of the case 1. Court will fix a date for preliminary hearing in the
2. Defendant’s solicitor will give a plea in the defendant’s trial to NOT GUILTY Magistrates’ Court
mitigation on the defendant’s behalf take place Magistrates will need to:
3. Magistrates will then either sentence 2. Issue case 1. Determine whether they
the defendant straight away, or management should sentence the
adjourn the case to a later date if they directions with which defendant
want to obtain any reports (e.g. pre- both prosecution and 2. Whether defendant
sentence report from the Probation defence must comply should be committed to Magistrates must
service) before sentencing the defendant before trial the Crown Court for determine whether
sentence because given the defendant is to
Newton Hearing – necessary to determine the seriousness of the be tried in the
the factual basis upon which the defendant case, the magistrates Magistrates’ Court
will be sentenced power will be or in the Crown
insufficient Court
 NOT GUILTY PLEA
PLEA BEFORE VENUE (EITHER WAY OFFENCES) (or no plea given)

GUILTY PLEA Legal adviser reads out charge and checks

defendant has received IDPC from prosecution Allocation

Sentence Committal to Prosecution and defence make

Legal adviser tells defendant
Crown Court for representations as to trial venue
he may indicate his plea
sentence (if
magistrates’
sentencing powers
are inadequate) Magistrates decide whether to retain
jurisdiction – s19(3) MCA 1980

Case sent to
Magistrates’ court
GUILTY PLEA Crown Court
refuses jurisdiction
for trial Magistrates’ court
If the defendant indicates a guilty plea, he is treated as having been
tried summarily and convicted.
retains jurisdiction

The maximum sentence a magistrates’ court may pass is 6 months’

imprisonment for a defendant who is convicted of one either way
offence
 Rising to a maximum 12 months’ imprisonment where a Defendant consents Defendant elects
defendant is convicted of 2 or more either way offences to summary trial Crown Court trial

s.3 Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing Act) 2000

If the magistrates decide that their sentencing powers are
insufficient, they will commit the defendant to Crown Court for
sentence
Case management Case sent to Crown
directions given Court for trial and
case management
directions given
Trial
 ALLOCATION NOT GUILTY PLEA

s.50A(3)(b) Crime and Disorder Act (CDA) 1998

If the defendant indicates a not guilty in the
s.19 MCA 1980 following circumstances, the court shall send the
Court must give the prosecution and the accused an opportunity to make representations on defendant to the Crown Court for trial:
the issue of jurisdiction
(a) The defendant is sent to the Crown Court for
trial for trial for a related offences
s.19(3) MCA 1980 (b) The defendant is charged jointly with another
Requires court to consider: adult defendant who is sent to the Crown Court
for trial for a related offences
 Whether the sentence which a magistrates’ court would have power to impose for (c) The defendant is charged jointly, or charged with
the offence would be adequate a related ether way offence, with a youth

 Any representations made by the prosecution or the accused

 Allocation guidelines, which provide that:

o Either way offences should be tried summarily, unless it’s likely that the court’s
sentencing powers will be insufficient
o Its powers will be likely to be insufficient if the sentence is likely to result in
excess of 6 months’ imprisonment for a single offence
o Court should assess the likely sentence in the light of the facts alleged by the
prosecution case, taking into account all aspects of the case, including those
advanced by the defence
RIGHT TO BAIL

ALLOCATION GUIDELINES

s.22 MCA 1980

For low-value shoplifting offences where value of goods stolen doesn’t exceed £200, these
are summary-only offences

s.22(1) MCA 1980

For criminal damage (usually either way) where the value of the property damaged is less
that £5,000, these are summary-only offences

s.15 CDA 1998

Defendants sent straight to Crown Court if committed for an indictable-only offences
ARGUMENTS ON POINTS OF LAW
Prosecuting solicitor may seek to adduce
evidence before the court which the
defendant’s solicitor considers to be
inadmissible:
 Admissibility of confession (s.76
PACE 1984)
 Admissibility of ID procedure
evidence (s.78 PACE 1984)
The magistrates will normally hold a voir
dire hearing to determine the
admissibility of the particular piece of
evidence in dispute
COMPETENCE & COMPELLABILITY
OF DEFENDANT
s.1(1) Criminal Evidence Act 1898
Defendant is a competent witness for the
defence but is not compellable
 Means that a defendant can give
evidence on his own behalf, but he is
not obliged to do so
s.35 CJPOA 1994
Defendant who fails to give evidence on
his own behalf at trial is likely to find that
the court will draw an adverse inference
from such failure
s.38(3) CJPOA 1994
Defendant may not be convicted of an
offence if the only evidence against him is
an adverse inference from his failure to
give evidence in his defence at trial
ORDER OF EVENTS AT TRIAL (Crim PR, Part 24) SUBMISSION OF NO CASE TO
ANSWER
When presenting his case to the
magistrates, the prosecuting solicitor
bears an evidential burden
 Present sufficient evidence to the
court to justify a finding a guilty
If the prosecuting solicitor fails to satisfy
this burden, the defendant’s solicitor
should make a submission of no case of
answer at the conclusion of the
prosecution case, asking the magistrates
to dismiss the case
R v Galbraith – submission not case to
answer will be made by the defendant’s
solicitor if either:
(a) Prosecution have failed to put
forward evidence to prove an
essential element of the alleged
offence; or
(b) Evidence produced by the
prosecution has been so discredited
as a result of cross-examination, or
is so manifestly unreliable, that no
reasonable tribunal could safely
convict on it