Сложно перевести текст кто может! text 3. criminal process in england and wales (1) under english law there are three types of trial processes in criminal law. the types of criminal trial are "summary" or "indictment" and the third type is "either way" which is an offence that can be tried in either court. summary trials take place in the lower court, i.e. the magistrates court. indictment trials normally start in the magistrates court before they are referred to the higher court, the crown court for trial. (2) the criminal court process in england and wales starts with an indictment. an indictment is the legal term for the criminal charges that form the basis of the trial. the prosecution of the indictment is generally carried out the crown prosecution service or cps. the cps are the legal arm of the state and they decide if the information and evidence provided by the police is solid enough for criminal charges to be brought against the defendant. this initial process is termed the committal. committal proceedings are dealt with by a magistrate. the magistrate will access the evidence. (3) less serious offences are dealt with in the magistrate court, these types of offences are called summary offences. offences that fall into this group include low level motoring offences, minor assault, some arson cases and other low level crime such as criminal damage and taking without the drivers consent. there are limits to the types of cases that a magistrates court can deal with. trials in the magistrate court take place in one of two ways. the most common of these is a trial that takes place before a bench of "lay magistrates". this must be made up of at least three people but they are not normally lawyers or solicitors. the less common type of magistrates court trial is that of a stipendiary magistrate. (4) crown courts deal with the more serious criminal offences. these crimes are titled indictable offences and cover a wide range of acts. indictable offences include murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, blackmail and armed robbery. people charged with these offences have their first court appearance in the magistrates court before the crown court. at this stage the magistrate must decide if the defendant should be released on bail or to keep him/her in custody. this stage of the process is called the first appearance. in the crown court the trial is overseen by a circuit judge or a high court judge and a jury. the status of the judge depends on the seriousness of the offence and complex nature of the offence. a jury is only called in the defendant enters a plea of "not guilty". (5) “either way” cases are those that are between the two levels and can be tried by magistrates or by a judge and jury in a crown court. magistrates can "decline jurisdiction" on cases that they believe are too serious for them to deal with. then the case must be dealt with in the crown court. an adult defendant can ask for trial by jury in a crown court and the court system must agree to this. (6) the judge supervises the criminal trial by attempting to ensure clarity and fairness of the proceedings. the judge must also decides on legal issues (such as whether a piece of evidence is admissible - should be put before the jury) and also instruct the jury as to the correct view to the case. in england and wales juries are made up of 12 people aged between 18 and 70 years old. it is the role of the jury to decide if the defendant is either guilty or innocent. the jury will access the evidence before them and come to a verdict. the verdict can either be a unanimous verdict where all the jurors are united in their view or a majority verdict where the majority of the jury has agreed on an outcome. trial by jury has been central to english common law since the magna carta was signed by king john in 1215. in criminal cases, the prosecution must prove guilt of the defendant. the defendant does not have to prove his/her innocence. the standard of proof required in law is that the case must be proved beyond reasonable doubt. if a defendant is found guilty then it is the judge that will pass sentence and also set the length of time the defendant will serve for their crime. there is a course to appeal after the first trial but there needs to be compelling evidence for an appeal to be heard. (7) criminal law in england is always developing and the recent heathrow robbery trial was the first trial without a jury in england for nearly four hundred years. the trial was carried out in front of a judge because of fears of jury tampering.
