Summary and Background Part 6 – Allocation and sending of offences
26.This Part of the Act (with Schedule 3) amends the procedure to be followed by magistrates’ courts in determining whether cases triable either way should be tried summarily or on indictment, and provides for the sending to the Crown Court of those cases which need to go there. The new procedures are designed to enable cases to be dealt with in the level of court which is appropriate to their seriousness, and to ensure that they reach that court as quickly as possible.
27.These provisions give effect to a number of recommendations from Lord Justice Auld’s Review of the Criminal Courts, including making magistrates aware, when they determine allocation, of any previous convictions of the defendant; removing the option of committal for sentence in cases which the magistrates decide to hear; allowing defendants in cases where summary trial is considered appropriate to seek a broad indication of the sentence they would face if they were to plead guilty at that point; and replacing committal proceedings and transfers in serious fraud and child witness cases with a common system for sending cases to the Crown Court, based on the present arrangements for indictable-only cases.
28.Provision is made for defendants aged under 18 to give, for certain offences, an indication of plea, along the lines of the procedure which applies in adult cases. This should help to avoid cases involving young defendants being sent to the Crown Court unnecessarily. Provision is made for defendants under 18 who are charged with certain firearms offences to be sent to the Crown Court for trial.