Crown Court in United Kingdom

Definition of Crown Court

In accordance with the work A Dictionary of Law, this is a description of Crown Court : A court created by the Courts Act 1971 to take over the jurisdiction formerly exercised by *assizes and *quarter sessions, which were abolished by the same Act. It is part of the *Supreme Court of Judicature. The Crown Court has an unlimited jurisdiction over all criminal cases tried on *indictment and also acts as a court for the hearing of appeals from *magistrates’ courts. Unlike the courts it replaced, the Crown Court is one court that can sit at any centre in England and Wales designated by the Lord Chancellor.

See also three-tier system.

Crown Court in North Ireland

The Crown Court deals with criminal defendants returned/committed for trial by Magistrates’ Courts. Cases for trial are heard before a judge and jury. Criminal appeals from the Magistrates’ Court go to the County Court.

In Northern Ireland there are still non-jury trials (commonly known as Diplock courts). However, all Crown Court proceedings are now commenced as jury trials unless the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland lodges a certificate indicating that it should be a non-jury trial.

Resources

See Also

Further Reading

• Crown Court in the Encyclopedia of Britain
• Crown Court in the Osborn’s Concise Law Dictionary
• Crown Court in the Halsbury’s Laws of England
• Crown Court in the Stroud’s Judicial Dictionary of Words and Phrases
• Crown Court in the Jowitt’s Dictionary of English Law
• Crown Court in the New Oxford Companion to Law
• Crown Court in the Words and Phrases Legally Defined
• Crown Court in the Oxford Dictionary of Law

Definition of Appeal to the Crown Court

There is a right of appeal against sentence or conviction or both. In addition there is a right of appeal on a point of law.

Definition of Crown Court

The most serious criminal cases such as murder, rape and robbery are heard in the crown court.

The Crown Court

Name

The Crown Court is the standarized name of one of the England and Wales Senior Courts (see the entries in this legal Encyclopedia about court rules and procedural law for more information on some aspects of the Crown Court in the England and Wales court system). [rtbs name=”courts”]