Committal for Trial in United Kingdom

Definition of Committal For Trial

In accordance with the work A Dictionary of Law, this is a description of Committal For Trial : The referring of a case from a magistrates’ court for trial at the Crown Court following a *preliminary investigation by the magistrates. The committal proceedings may consist of taking *depositions from all the witnesses in the form of oral evidence. Alternatively the committal may take a short form under section 6 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980. This occurs when the accused agrees that the prosecution should put all its evidence in writing; the justices may then commit for trial without considering the evidence. The accused does not have to disclose any defence that he intends to put forward at the trial, but must, not later than seven days after committal, give notice of any intended *alibi and details of the witnesses he is going to call in support of it. A committal without consideration of the evidence may only take place if the accused is legally represented. The press may normally only report certain limited facts about committal proceedings, such as the name of the accused and the charges. However, if the accused asks that reporting restrictions be lifted, the magistrates may allow publication of full details of the proceedings. Concern as to the effectiveness of committal proceedings in preventing weak cases going to trial led to provisions in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which have now created a new transfer for trial procedure, based upon consideration of case documents. The Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 lays down new committal procedures.