Law Court System

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Question 1 Identify by means of a diagram the principal criminal courts in England and Wales. FIG 1 In reference to fig 1 the principal criminal courts in England and Wales, there are three main courts which are magistrates, crown and court of appeal. These courts deal with offenders on behalf of the state and the public and are there to maintain law and order and protect the society. The magistrates’ court deals with less serious or summary offences which may include, council tax, motoring offences, assaults and threatening behaviour. They also deal with both way offences which can be tried in both magistrates and or crown court. Indictable offences are referred to crown court after the accused appear before the magistrates to confirm their name and charges. Magistrates’ courts also deal with family and youth courts which may include adoptions, maintenance payments and care proceedings. In youth courts the public are not allowed in apart from only those directly involved in the case. 95%of criminal offences are tried and dealt with in magistrates’ court. It also has the criminal jurisdiction to issue search and arrest warrants, decide on bail applications and sending trials to crown court where they will be tried before a judge and jury. The magistrates’ court has limited powers in passing judgement, which is a maximum of £5000 in fines, six months in prison or twelve months for concurrent offences. The magistrates are not legally qualified but are trained and made up of three people. They are not paid except for expenses but in some towns the magistrates’ court can be conducted by a full time, paid, legally qualified magistrate called district judge. Some cases that are family related are tried in high court family division while other appeals are heard in divisional court of the high court and fall under civil law. If the convicted want to appeal

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