Court system in England Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Court system in England - Essay Example The first right of the defendant starts when the court says that defendant's presence in the court for any indictable offence is necessary. There are cases where the defendants are intimidated, threatened, kidnapped or sometimes even eliminated so that they cannot attend the court. Under such circumstances, these courts order a decree of Habeus Corpus. Unless there are extraordinary circumstances, a defendant cannot be tried without being present. Magistrate courts deal with summary offences, which are less serious cases like minor assaults or driving offences and these offences are not eligible to be tried by the jury being rather legally insignificant. They also deal with Either-way offences and they are called so, because they could either be dealt by judge and jury or by a magistrate, which is usually the case. Offences here include theft, handling of stolen goods, etc. Here the right of the defendant is upheld by making the defendant to ask for either a Crown trial or a Magistrate trial and the choice belongs not to the court, but to the defendant. In case if the offence is of a more serious kind, magistrate himself might commit the defendant to a trial by the jury and under those circumstances, defendant's rights are not considered. Magistrate courts cannot try Indictable-only offences, and these are of a more serious kind like murder, manslaughter, rape and robbery. ... There is a distinction between summary and indictable offences. Jurisdiction and procedure usually are affected by this distinction because the distinction is fundamental. "Summary offences can be tried only in magistrate's courts, while indictable offences are triable on indictment before a jury. Summary offences are all creatures of statute, and the particular statute lays down the mode of trial and the appropriate penalty," Arguile (1969, p.41). The decision on bail and other connected legal issues like reporting restrictions are usually conducted by magistrate courts before the case goes to the Crown court. Again there is an option for the defendant. He could opt for a trial at the magistrate court and such a plea could be considered. If the defendant is found guilty, at that stage, or at any other stage, magistrates can impose a sentence up to six months imprisonment along with a fine up to 5000 and if the defendant is acquitted, and if there are no other connected or unconnected cases pending against him the magistrates can set him free as a legally innocent person. There are diverse kinds of legal presence in magistrate courts. There could be three lay magistrates or one District Judge and both the situations are perfectly acceptable to law. The lay magistrates are called Justices of the Peace and are usually the local people who volunteer their services. Despite not having any formal legal qualifications, the legal hist ory says that these magistrates have functioned very well over the years. They are given legal and procedural training and advice by the qualified clerks though. This prompts a question: Do such magistrates command the same respect from clerks, defendants and other legal fraternity Well, this is a different legal matter,