The criminal courts and the classification of offences, and the role, selection and evaluation of lay magistrates and juries as lay people in the criminal justice system.

What this dot point is asking

OCR Component 1 Section A requires you to know how criminal cases are tried and the part played by lay people, ordinary citizens with no legal qualifications, in the form of lay magistrates and juries. The skill is to describe the courts and the selection and role of each group accurately for AO1, and then to evaluate whether their use is justified for AO3.

The answer

The criminal courts and classification of offences

Every criminal case begins in the Magistrates' Court. Where it is tried depends on how the offence is classified:

• Summary offences (the least serious, for example common assault and most driving offences) are tried only in the Magistrates' Court.
• Either-way offences (for example theft and section 47 assault) may be tried in either court; the defendant may elect Crown Court trial.
• Indictable offences (the most serious, for example murder and robbery) start in the Magistrates' Court but are sent for trial in the Crown Court.

The Magistrates' Court deals with about 94 per cent of all criminal cases. The Crown Court tries the most serious cases before a judge and jury. Appeals run to the Crown Court or the King's Bench Divisional Court from the magistrates, and to the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) and Supreme Court from the Crown Court.

Lay magistrates

Magistrates decide both fact and law, determining guilt and passing sentence (up to 6 months for a single offence, or 12 months for two either-way offences). They also deal with preliminary matters such as bail and sending indictable cases to the Crown Court.

Juries

A jury of 12 sits in the Crown Court. Jurors are selected at random from the electoral register under the Juries Act 1974. To qualify a person must be aged 18 to 75, registered to vote, and resident in the UK for at least five years since the age of 13, and must not be disqualified (for example by certain criminal convictions) or otherwise ineligible. The jury's role is to listen to the evidence, decide the facts, and return a verdict of guilty or not guilty; the judge decides the law and directs the jury. Deliberation is in secret, and the jury aims for a unanimous verdict, though a 10 to 2 majority is allowed after at least two hours.

Evaluating lay people

Examples in context

A strong evaluation keeps asking whether public participation by untrained citizens is worth the cost in consistency and competence, and concludes.

Try this

Q1. Describe the classification of criminal offences and the court in which each is tried. [10 marks]

• What the marker wants. Precise AO1: summary offences in the Magistrates' Court; either-way offences in either court with the defendant's election; indictable offences sent to the Crown Court. Give an example of each.

Q2. Discuss the extent to which lay magistrates are an effective way of trying criminal cases. [20 marks]

• Cue. An AO3 evaluation: balance cost, local legitimacy and the panel against lack of training, possible bias and inconsistency, and judge, perhaps concluding their use is justified for summary work but needs reform of recruitment and training.