Background Judicial deployment
150.As part of the policy of greater flexibility in judicial deployment, it is proposed that High Court judges (and deputies), Circuit judges (and deputies) and Recorders should have the same powers as magistrates in criminal and family cases.
151.District Judges (Magistrates’ Courts) are to be capable of exercising some powers of a Crown Court judge. Schedule 4 sets out a number of interlocutory proceedings and rulings that it is intended could be performed by District Judges before a case is ready to go before a Crown Court judge.