Magistrates Courts and Crown Courts comprise different courts. The differences of both is going to be examined thoroughly in the following sections. Moreover, one is going to be able to understand the level of authority each court has, on the grounds of the seriousness of the offenses they deal with and of other authorities they have. Examples of different kinds of offenses are going to be explored, in an effort to give a complete understanding of the powers and duties of the courts. .
Nearly all cases start in a Magistrates Court and about 90-95% of cases are completed there. Only the most serious offenses are dealt with in a Crown Court. These serious offenses can start in a Magistrates Court and passed on to a Crown Court either for sentencing, or for a full trial by a judge and a jury. In order to understand which offenses are serious and which are not, there is a categorization of summary and indictable-only offenses. Summary offenses are minor offenses, such as motoring offenses and minor assaults. Indictable-only offenses are offenses that are usually passed on to a Crown Court for a full trial and sentencing, such as murder, robbery, grievous bodily harm, manslaughter and rape. A Crown Court also divides the offenses it deals with in three types. Class 1 offenses are the most serious offenses, such as murder, manslaughter and treason, class 2 are offenses, like rape, and class 3 are offenses, such as kidnapping, burglary, robbery and grievous bodily harm. Moreover, it must be noted that there are either-way offenses, which are dealt with as the name suggests, in other words either in a Magistrates Court, or a Crown Court, such as handling stolen goods and theft. In this case, the defendant can decide which trial he prefers to be trialed on, although if the offense is serious enough according to the magistrates, they can decide to pass it on to a Crown Court. Finally, a Crown Court can hear appeals from a Magistrate Court.
