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BTEC Applied Law Unit 1 P1 (Law Courts of the UK)
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Essay of 3 pages for the course Unit 1 at East Surrey College
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Law P1Courts of first instance : Criminal
Magistrates Court
The magistrates’ court deals with minor criminal offences such as anti-social
behaviour, drunk & disorderly, speeding etc. The Court is usually made up of a
panel of 3-5 Magistrates or one district judge (stipendiary magistrate). There is
no jury, only the magistrates and the prosecution & defence. The Magistrates
can only sentence offenders to a maximum of 6 months in prison, up to £5000
fine or community service. Triable Either Way offences can be tried either in
the Magistrates Court, or the Crown Court. The Magistrates can decide if they
think the offence is serious enough to be tried at the crown court, but the
defence can also decide if they want to be tried at the Crown Court if they are
told their trial will be at the Magistrates. All indictable offences are tried at the
Crown Court such as murder, rape, serious assault etc. Appeals from the
Magistrates court are taken up to the Crown Court. Both the prosecution and
defence can appeal.
Crown Court
The Crown Court deals with indictable offences and summary offences that
warrant a higher sentence which only a judge can give. Indictable offences are
the more serious offences such as certain type of assault, including sexual,
armed robbery and repeat offenders. In the Crown Court there is a Judge and a
Jury present as well as the prosecution and the defence. The Jury, made up of 12
randomly selected strangers, decides the verdict of guilty or not guilty and then
the judge decides the sentence. The Crown Court can sentence anything, the
maximum term being life imprisonment. Appeals from the Crown Court go to the
Court of Appeal; the defence can only appeal if they are given permission and
the prosecution can only appeal on a point of law. A point of law would include
the Jury being nobbled, fresh evidence not available during the trial or the judge
confusing the jury.
Courts of First Instance: Civil
County Court
County Court is the lower court of first instance within the civil side of the law.
County Court can try nearly all cases but there is a limit on the size of the case
that they can deal with, for example they can try all small claims cases because
they are under £5000. They can try all fast-track cases between £5000 and
£25,000, all contract and tort cases, all cases for recovery of land and disputes
over partnerships, trusts and inheritance up to the value of £30,000. Cases in the
county court are heard by a circuit judge or a district judge and on very rare
occasions a judge and a jury of eight, but only on defamation cases, torts of
malicious prosecution or false imprisonment trials. Appeals from the County
Court are dealt with by the Court of Appeal’s Civil Division.
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