Magistrates in the Crown Court: Appeals Against Conviction and Sentence

Every criminal case begins its life in the Magistrates' Court and more than 90 percent of those will be concluded there too.

In the overwhelming majority of cases dealt with by the Magistrates' Court the parties accept the decision and any sentence imposed.

Occasionally, in well under 3 percent of cases, the court reaches a decision or imposes a sentence that the parties disagree with, in which case an appeal can be made to the Crown Court.

Such an appeal must be lodged with 21 days of the offence being sentenced at the Magistrates' Court. There are other ways of appealing a Magistrates' Court decision, but we shan't dwell on them here.

Composition of a Crown Court appeal bench:

In accordance with section 74 of the Supreme Court Act 1981 a Crown Court appeal bench will be composed of a High Court Judge/Circuit Judge/Recorder and not less than two, no more than four, Justices of the Peace, depending on the circumstances.

All members of the appeal bench have an equal voice when it comes to deciding the outcome and the majority vote will prevail, even if that does not include the professional Judge. In the event that there is an evenly split decision, the Judge will have a casting vote.

As the Crown Court does not have legal advisors, the Judge will be the expert on any issues of law. The Judge will be very familiar with the legal issues surrounding either way offences, but may have less experience of dealing with summary offences. The Justices' working knowledge of those offences may prove useful.

Justices are forbidden from sitting on appeals of cases that they heard earlier at the Magistrates' Court.

Eligibility of Justices to sit on Crown Court appeals:

To be able to sit on Crown Court appeals a Justice needs to have the support of their Bench Chairman and Justices' Clerk and approval of the relevant Justices' Training, Approvals, Authorisations and Appraisals Committee (JTAAAC). The JTAAAC may have its own criteria that need to be met before adding a Justice to the Crown Court list.

A limited number of Justices are required for Crown Court appeals. To allow all interested Justices the opportunity to sit on Crown Court appeals, it might be that additions to the list are made for a fixed period of time.

Sittings in the Crown Court are counted in the same manner as those in the Magistrates' Court.

Types of appeal:

The Crown Court hears appeals against sentences and convictions imposed by the Magistrates' Court. The defendant in appeal cases is known as the appellant and the prosecutor is known as the respondent.

The hearing in the Crown Court will be 'de novo' - e.g. the matter of guilt and/or sentence will be considered afresh and on the evidence presented to it. This may include new matters not considered by the Magistrates' Court earlier on. In effect the defence gets a second chance to rehearse and present its case in full, which is obviously to its clear advantage.

Appeal outcomes:

On hearing an appeal the Crown Court may confirm, vary or overturn the original decision, including varying the sentence where the appeal was against conviction. In respect of sentencing, the Crown Court will be limited to the same sentencing powers as the original Magistrates' Court but it may increase the sentence. The Crown Court also has certain powers to remit the matter back to the Magistrates' Court for re-hearing.