The magistrates court is often referred to as “the lower court” as it does not deal with as serious cases at the crown. The cases are either heard by lay magistrates or a district judge. Lay magistrates are members of the public who apply to become magistrates. They are not legally trained and so sit with a solicitor (court clerk) who advises them as to the law. Typically, 3 magistrates hear the cases although on occasion 2 magistrates will sit. District judges are lawyers and hear the case alone.

How does the process at the magistrates court begin ?

The process begins by you receiving a charge or postal charge from the police. This will instruct you which court and what date and time to attend. The fact you are charged means that the prosecution thinks there is enough evidence against you to proceed to a court hearing. In some really serious cases people are kept in custody by the police and taken to the court but the vast majority of cases begin with people being asked to attend or bailed to attend.

That depends on whether you plead guilty or not guilty. If you plead guilty you will be sentenced. This could be on the same day or the case adjourned to another date. Lesser crimes will be punished by discharges or fines. The more serious cases will require a report by the probation service and can lead to curfews, unpaid hours or a prison sentence.

If you instruct us to deal with your case, we assist you every step of the way. This includes:-

• Meeting you at court and discussing the evidence with you before you go into court
• Advising you whether you should plead guilty or if there are defences available the nature of the defence and why we instruct you to plead not guilty
• Explaining the procedure in court
• Advising of the likely sentence if you are convicted
• Advising of the trial process, taking statements from you and your witnesses and analysing the evidence if your case is adjourned for trial
• Dealing with any issues in relation to bail
• Acting as advocate on your behalf. This means standing up and speaking to the court. Asking witnesses questions at trial and mitigating at sentence hearing.
• If convicted, advising upon appeal against sentence or conviction

We are highly experienced at magistrates court representation. Our team is led by Louise Bauress  who attends the magistrates daily to represent our clients. We want the best results for our clients. This can mean a win at trial or a lenient sentence. Each case and defendant is individual.