If this happens the police will explain this to you. Sometimes this will mean you will be asked to give evidence again. If a defendant appeals, the case will be heard again by a judge and a panel of magistrates in the Crown Court.
WITNESS SERVICES TRIAL
This means they aren’t challenging the fact that they’ve been found guilty but that they believe the punishment they’ve been given is too harsh.ĭefendants who have been convicted after a trial in the magistrates' court have an automatic right to an appeal, should they wish to do so. They can also appeal against the severity of their sentence. If the defendant is found guilty, they can appeal against their conviction – this means they are asking for it to be overturned because they don’t believe they should have been found guilty. Support to give your evidence - special measures They are based at the court and can offer information and support before and during the trial. If you need to give evidence, you can get support from the Witness Service. If the defendant pleads not guilty and you have made a witness statement to the police, you may be called to give evidence. Your case won’t go to trial if the defendant pleads guilty. The jury is 12 members of the public randomly selected from the electoral role.
The jury decides whether or not the defendant is guilty. The judge will give directions about how the trial should run and make a decision on any legal questions (such as whether certain types of evidence can be used). If a case is too serious to be heard in a magistrates’ court, the magistrates will send it to the Crown Court.Ĭrown Court cases are heard by a judge and a jury. In magistrates’ courts decisions are made by either a panel of magistrates (volunteer members of the public supported by a legal advisor) or a District Judge (a legal professional). All cases start in the magistrates’ court and most trials take place there. Magistrates’ courts can hear cases where they determine that a maximum sentence of 12 months in prison would be adequate if the defendant was convicted. To answer this question, we must consider things like the seriousness of the offence, the harm caused to the victim, the impact on communities and the age and maturity of the suspect at the time of the offence.Ī prosecution will go ahead unless a prosecutor decides that public interest factors against a prosecution outweigh those in favour of a prosecution. At this stage we ask the question ‘Is it in the public interest to prosecute?’. The second stage is the public interest test. If the case doesn’t pass this first stage we can’t move onto the next stage, no matter how serious or sensitive the case may be. At the CPS we don’t need to be sure that someone is guilty to take the case forward - in fact we don’t make any judgement on whether someone is guilty or not. When a case gets to trial the magistrates or jury must be sure that a defendant is guilty in order to convict them.
This test is different to the test the court applies at trial. To answer this question we must consider whether the evidence they can use in court is reliable and credible and whether there is any other material that might undermine that evidence. At this stage we review all the evidence and ask the question ‘Is there enough evidence against the suspect to provide a realistic prospect of conviction?’ That means, having heard the evidence, is a court more likely than not to find the defendant guilty?
WITNESS SERVICES CODE
To decide whether or not to charge the suspect in a case the police or prosecutor will apply the two-stage test set out in our Code for Crown Prosecutors. More serious offences include all cases of hate crime, domestic abuse or any offences which carry a sentence of more than six months in prison. If they do not have enough evidence they will not send the case to us. For less serious offences: Once the police have completed their investigation they will decide whether or not charge the suspect with an offence.įor more serious offences: Once the police consider they have enough evidence they will pass the case to us at the CPS and ask us to make a decision about whether a suspect can be charged.
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