The Criminal Courts - Four Main Courts

The Criminal Courts

There are four main criminal courts –
1. Magistrates’ Court（治安警事法庭）;
2. Crown Court (王室法庭, 皇冠法庭, 巡回刑事法庭);
3. Court of Appeal (Criminal Division);
4. House of Lords.

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1. Magistrates’ Court
This Court deals with the great majority of criminal cases. Each court is staffed by at least two justices of the peace (治安法官) (not legally qualified), or by a single District Judge (行政法官) (qualified lawyer).

The clerk of the Court advises lay magistrates(“外行”治安法官，即上文所述”justices of the peace”, 无薪) on points of law, procedure and sentence.（法庭书记员会为“太平绅士，无薪的外行治安法官在法律观点、程序及审判方面给出建议。） Magistrates have limited powers to punish a guilty person – usually no more than two years imprisonment and / up to £5,000 fine.

Jurisdiction of the Court
l It tries minor crimes, e.g. traffic offences, shoplifting, common assault etc;
l Committal Proceeding(起诉审；预审；交付审判程序) in serious indictable offences(可起诉罪行);
l Civil cases, e.g. disputes between husband and wife, adoption of children, enforcement of council tax payments, water, gas and electricity bills etc.

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2．Crown Court (皇冠法庭，皇家刑事法庭，巡回刑事法庭)
This Court has two main functions:
a) Trial of serious indictable crimes, e.g. murder, rape, robbery with violence etc. These are tried by a professional judge and a jury(陪审团).
b) Appeals from magistrates courts are usually tried in this court.

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3. Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
Three appeal judges sit together to listen to a criminal appeal from the Crown Court (indictable cases only).

An appeal can be made against conviction(定罪) or sentence(判决).

The court has power to order a new trial in exceptional cases.

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4. House of Lords
The House listens to criminal appeals from Court of Appeal (Criminal Division).

Leave to appeal (上述许可令) must be given by the Court below or by the House itself, and the appeal must involve a point of law of general public importance.

Note:
The Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) <老贝利、中央刑事法庭> is the Crown Court for the City of London.