Introduction to the
criminal justice system
• The defendant will be considered innocent until proven guilty.
• They are entitled to a fair trial, and the burden of proving the case lies with the prosecution.
The criminal justice process:
Involves litigation, evidence and sentencing from the initial allegation up to trial and conviction.
• It commences when a person is alleged to have committed a prohibited act.
• This generally results in the defendant being arrested, taken to a police station and detained.
• Following a police interview, should the evidence allow, the defendant will be charged and
appear before a magistrates’ court.
• If not, the magistrates’ court issues a written charge and requisition to secure the
defendant’s attendance at court.
They are asked to enter a plea:
a. If they plead guilty, the court moves to sentence.
b. If they plead not guilty, there is a trial and the court comes to a verdict.
– If the verdict is guilty, the defendant must be sentenced.
– If they are not guilty, the defendant is acquitted of the charge and is free to go.
• A person who is sentenced following either a guilty plea or verdict may appeal.
What types of offences are there?
There are 3 classifications of offences which impact where trial and sentencing take place:
Summary, indictable-only and either way offences.
Summary offences
• The least serious crimes.
• Include offences like assault and criminal damage (subject to the value of damage caused).
• Can only be tried in the Magistrates’ Court
• Punishment is maximum six months’ imprisonment or up to 12 months’ imprisonment (for
sentences running consecutively on two or more offences triable either way) and a £5,000 fine.
Indictable-only offences
• The most serious crimes.
• Can only be tried by a judge and jury in the Crown Court.
• The maximum penalty is that imposed by the statute creating or regulating the offence.
• Includes murder, manslaughter, grievous bodily harm with intent and robbery.
,Either way’ offences
• Tried either in the Magistrates’ Court or the Crown Court
• Also known as ‘indictable’ offences – capable of being tried on indictment.
• The decision about which court should try the offence is made by the Magistrates.
• If the Magistrates decide that their powers are sufficient to deal with the matter, they will
offer summary trial. The defendant has the right to choose trial by jury.
• If the Magistrates conclude that the facts indicate an offence with a penalty in excess of their
powers, they will decline jurisdiction. The defendant loses the right to choose, and the case will go
to the Crown Court.
• Examples include assault with actual bodily harm and theft.
Youths
• The classification of offences are only relevant to adults.
• The potential sentence determines where their trial is held.
Police and Crown Prosecution Service
• If the harm caused is serious, action should be taken by society rather than by the victim.
• The state machinery, such as the police, is equipped for investigating such matters and for
collecting evidence.
, Introduction to
criminal law
What is a crime?
• A crime represents society’s interpretation of the difference between right and wrong.
• Crime can be thought of as a ‘public wrong.’
What are the purposes of sentencing?
Section 57(2) Sentencing Act 2020 sets out the purposes of sentencing adults.
2. The court must have regard to the following purposes of sentencing—
a. the punishment of offenders,
b. the reduction of crime (including its reduction by deterrence),
c. the reform and rehabilitation of offenders,
d. the protection of the public, and
e. the making of reparation by offenders to persons affected by their offences.
What are the similarities and differences between criminal
law and morality?
• Not all unacceptable behaviour will be criminalised.
• It is not the job of the criminal justice system to enforce all public morals.
• Morality can inform legislature - e.g. it is not morally acceptable to act in a way that ‘inflicts
grievous bodily harm’ on another, and there is a corresponding criminal offence.
• The defendant will be subject to criminal sanctions, if the defendant had no good reason
for doing so, such as performing a life-saving operation.
• There are situations where what some might consider immoral behaviour will not be reflected
by a corresponding criminal offence. E.g. extra marital sex.
• There is some behaviour that will only become unacceptable in certain circumstances,
or if the person goes beyond certain limits. E.g. buying alcohol under the age of 18.
, How does criminal law evolve?
The Offences Against the Person Act 1991
• Some law is based on principles and rules that are hundreds of years old.
• Some decisions reflect this and seem archaic.
• E.g. the law relating to non-fatal offences against the person – the Offences Against the Person
Act 1861
Criminalising existing behaviours and Decriminalising others
• Criminal law constantly evolves in a number of ways:
– Courts provide guidance on how they interpret current laws through case law
– Attitudes in society change, which can result in a corresponding change in the law
– The government continually updates the law through amendments, repeals of existing laws,
and the creation of new offences.
• Criminal law also reflects wider societal context which often falls far short of the swift justice
we expect.
Machpherson Report
• Came out of the inquiry into the murder of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence.
• Labelled London Metropolitan Police as institutionally racist in 1999.
• In 2020 a House of Commons Library briefing into police powers of stop and search suggested
that Black, Minority and Ethnic people were four times more likely to be searched by the police
than white people in 2019/20.
Equality and Human Rights Commission research
• Research suggests that counter-terrorism law and policy in the wake of 9/11 had been perceived
by Muslims in Britain as targeting them ‘on the basis of their religion, rather than any form of
immediate threat or suspicion’.
Hillsborough disasters
• 96 football fans died at the Hillsborough disaster in 1989.
• No one has been held criminally accountable.
• The acquittal in 2019 of the match commander for gross-negligence manslaughter is a recent
example of a prosecution that failed to secure a conviction in the case.
criminal justice system
• The defendant will be considered innocent until proven guilty.
• They are entitled to a fair trial, and the burden of proving the case lies with the prosecution.
The criminal justice process:
Involves litigation, evidence and sentencing from the initial allegation up to trial and conviction.
• It commences when a person is alleged to have committed a prohibited act.
• This generally results in the defendant being arrested, taken to a police station and detained.
• Following a police interview, should the evidence allow, the defendant will be charged and
appear before a magistrates’ court.
• If not, the magistrates’ court issues a written charge and requisition to secure the
defendant’s attendance at court.
They are asked to enter a plea:
a. If they plead guilty, the court moves to sentence.
b. If they plead not guilty, there is a trial and the court comes to a verdict.
– If the verdict is guilty, the defendant must be sentenced.
– If they are not guilty, the defendant is acquitted of the charge and is free to go.
• A person who is sentenced following either a guilty plea or verdict may appeal.
What types of offences are there?
There are 3 classifications of offences which impact where trial and sentencing take place:
Summary, indictable-only and either way offences.
Summary offences
• The least serious crimes.
• Include offences like assault and criminal damage (subject to the value of damage caused).
• Can only be tried in the Magistrates’ Court
• Punishment is maximum six months’ imprisonment or up to 12 months’ imprisonment (for
sentences running consecutively on two or more offences triable either way) and a £5,000 fine.
Indictable-only offences
• The most serious crimes.
• Can only be tried by a judge and jury in the Crown Court.
• The maximum penalty is that imposed by the statute creating or regulating the offence.
• Includes murder, manslaughter, grievous bodily harm with intent and robbery.
,Either way’ offences
• Tried either in the Magistrates’ Court or the Crown Court
• Also known as ‘indictable’ offences – capable of being tried on indictment.
• The decision about which court should try the offence is made by the Magistrates.
• If the Magistrates decide that their powers are sufficient to deal with the matter, they will
offer summary trial. The defendant has the right to choose trial by jury.
• If the Magistrates conclude that the facts indicate an offence with a penalty in excess of their
powers, they will decline jurisdiction. The defendant loses the right to choose, and the case will go
to the Crown Court.
• Examples include assault with actual bodily harm and theft.
Youths
• The classification of offences are only relevant to adults.
• The potential sentence determines where their trial is held.
Police and Crown Prosecution Service
• If the harm caused is serious, action should be taken by society rather than by the victim.
• The state machinery, such as the police, is equipped for investigating such matters and for
collecting evidence.
, Introduction to
criminal law
What is a crime?
• A crime represents society’s interpretation of the difference between right and wrong.
• Crime can be thought of as a ‘public wrong.’
What are the purposes of sentencing?
Section 57(2) Sentencing Act 2020 sets out the purposes of sentencing adults.
2. The court must have regard to the following purposes of sentencing—
a. the punishment of offenders,
b. the reduction of crime (including its reduction by deterrence),
c. the reform and rehabilitation of offenders,
d. the protection of the public, and
e. the making of reparation by offenders to persons affected by their offences.
What are the similarities and differences between criminal
law and morality?
• Not all unacceptable behaviour will be criminalised.
• It is not the job of the criminal justice system to enforce all public morals.
• Morality can inform legislature - e.g. it is not morally acceptable to act in a way that ‘inflicts
grievous bodily harm’ on another, and there is a corresponding criminal offence.
• The defendant will be subject to criminal sanctions, if the defendant had no good reason
for doing so, such as performing a life-saving operation.
• There are situations where what some might consider immoral behaviour will not be reflected
by a corresponding criminal offence. E.g. extra marital sex.
• There is some behaviour that will only become unacceptable in certain circumstances,
or if the person goes beyond certain limits. E.g. buying alcohol under the age of 18.
, How does criminal law evolve?
The Offences Against the Person Act 1991
• Some law is based on principles and rules that are hundreds of years old.
• Some decisions reflect this and seem archaic.
• E.g. the law relating to non-fatal offences against the person – the Offences Against the Person
Act 1861
Criminalising existing behaviours and Decriminalising others
• Criminal law constantly evolves in a number of ways:
– Courts provide guidance on how they interpret current laws through case law
– Attitudes in society change, which can result in a corresponding change in the law
– The government continually updates the law through amendments, repeals of existing laws,
and the creation of new offences.
• Criminal law also reflects wider societal context which often falls far short of the swift justice
we expect.
Machpherson Report
• Came out of the inquiry into the murder of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence.
• Labelled London Metropolitan Police as institutionally racist in 1999.
• In 2020 a House of Commons Library briefing into police powers of stop and search suggested
that Black, Minority and Ethnic people were four times more likely to be searched by the police
than white people in 2019/20.
Equality and Human Rights Commission research
• Research suggests that counter-terrorism law and policy in the wake of 9/11 had been perceived
by Muslims in Britain as targeting them ‘on the basis of their religion, rather than any form of
immediate threat or suspicion’.
Hillsborough disasters
• 96 football fans died at the Hillsborough disaster in 1989.
• No one has been held criminally accountable.
• The acquittal in 2019 of the match commander for gross-negligence manslaughter is a recent
example of a prosecution that failed to secure a conviction in the case.
