Summary Offences -
•Trial Court = Magistrates.
e.g Assault.
Up to 6 months imprisonment for a single offence ,or up to 12 months in total for 2 or more offences.
Fine- up to £5000
Triable Either-Way
•Trial Court = Magistrates or Crown .
e.g ABH
Up to a maximum set by specific offence (considering the court).
Indictable Offences -
•Trial Court = Crown.
e.g Murder
Up to maximum set by the specific offence by common law/statute.
APPEALS FROM MAGISTRATES
•The D can appeal against their sentence or conviction.
•It goes to the Crown Court where it will be completely reheard by a circuit judge and 2 magistrates.
APPEALS FROM CROWN COURT
The D may appeal …
-Against their sentence or conviction if it's unsafe.
•If the CoA think the conviction is unsafe = quash the conviction.
•If the CoA think the sentence is too harsh = decrease the sentence.
The Prosecution may appeal …
•Against an acquittal
•Against a sentence
•If the judge made an error explaining the law to the jury.
•Against a judge's ruling in a point of law ,which stops the case against D.
AIMS OF SENTENCING
PUNISHMENT
If the person has done wrong ,they deserve to be punished and society expects that they are.
DETERRENT
This aim is to reduce crime by dissuading people from committing or reoffending.
REHABILITATION
An offender is helped to solve issues that lie behind their criminal behaviours.The intention is that if the problems are solved ,the offender will avoid committing further offences.
PROTECTION OF THE PUBLIC
This aim is used as a strong justification for imprisonment.Its argued that the public needs protection from dangerous criminals
REPARATION
The offender “makes amends” for their crime.They attempt to “repair” the damage caused by their offence.
FACTORS
PRE-SENTENCE REPORT
This is prepared by the probation service before proceeding to sentence , it helps the courts decide the most appropriate sentence for that offender.
AGGRAVATING FACTORS
These are factors that make a sentence more serious and can result in a more severe sentence being passed.
MITIGATING FACTORS
The court will take these into account, and they may mean that the offender gets a more lenient sentence than they would have done.
TYPES OF SENTENCES
FINE
The offender is required to pay a financial penalty.
COMMUNITY SENTENCE
This is an alternative to prison. It's seen as being more effective at rehabilitating offenders .e.g unpaid work ,curfew requirement , or drug rehabilitation.
CUSTODIAL
Most severe sanction in the UK.
Mandatory Life Sentence -
The judge will set the minimum time that is to be served before the offender is eligible to be considered for release on license.
E.g Murder.
Discretionary Life Sentence -
The judge has the power to sentence the offender anything up to life imprisonment.
E.g Manslaughter ,Rape.
Fixed-term Sentence -
The offender will be automatically released after half of their sentence.
Suspended Sentence -
The offender doesn't have to go to prison but may be obliged to carry out work in the community and mustn't commit any further offences, otherwise the offender will go to prison.
Magistrates -
•Known as the “Justices of the Peace”.
•They are unqualified volunteers.
•They can decide bail ,hear summary/triable offences ,sentence offenders, issue warrants and extend detention periods for suspects being held in the police station.
•They work in a bench of 3 that consists of 2 wingers and a chairman.
•The legal adviser assists the magistrate.They must have been a solicitor/barrister for at least 5 years to qualify.
Juries -
-Selected randomly through the electoral register.
-Juries are used in serious cases such as murder ,rape and GBH.
-Consists of 12 people.
-Juries reach a verdict of “guilty” or “not guilty”.If guilty, the judge passes the sentence upon them.
Unanimous Verdicts -
Means that all 12 jurors have agreed on the same verdict.
Majority Verdicts -
-Only acceptable of he jury jas been deliberating for more than 2 hours.
-Introduced to prevent jury tampering (bribes ,threats)
-If there is evidence of jury tampering ,the law allows the trial to be reheard by a judge alone.
-If the jury has dropped to 11 ,the majority must be 10-1.
-If dropped to 10 , it must be 9-1.
-If 9 jurors are left ,there MUST be a unanimous decision.
-If the jury drops below 9 ,trial must start again with a new jury.
ADVANTAGES OF USING JURIES
•Jury equity is an advantage ,which was established in Bushells case, which means that juries cannot be pressurised by a judge.
•Their deliberations are kept secret and heir decision made away from external influence.
DISADVANTAGE OF USING JURIES
•They don't have to give reasons for their decision.This is a disadvantage because it makes it difficult for the D to appeal against their verdict.
•They don't receive any training so most of them are complete amateurs.
REFORM SUGGESTIONS FOR THE JURY SYSTEM
•Make juries undergo training.
•Make juries give reasons for their verdicts.
•Allow judges to sit with the jury to assist them.
Last changed4 months ago