Deck 27: Criminal Courts and the Court Process

Question 1

As volunteers drawn from the local area, magistrates are representative of the wider population.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

What is the role of pre-trial 'disclosure of evidence'?

Answer 2

One of the more important pre-trial issues concerns disclosure of evidence. The prosecution is required to disclose its case to the defence in cases that go to the Crown Court, and are also required to provide to the defence all evidence upon which the Crown proposes to rely in a summary trial in a magistrates' court. There is also an obligation on the prosecution in the more serious cases to bring to the attention of the defence major items of evidence that are not to be used in court (these may potentially contain information of value to the defence, hence the requirement to disclose it)

Question 3

Why has plea bargaining been likened to roulette?

Answer 3

It is possible that some innocent defendants may find the pressure to plead guilty difficult to resist, and there is some research evidence to suggest that as many as one in ten of all those pleading guilty in the Crown Court actually claim to be innocent (Zander and Henderson, 1993) Having reviewed existing practices in relation to both charge and plea bargaining, Ashworth and Redmayne's (2005: 285) rather damning conclusion is that in effect, 'there is an element of gambling in the defendant's decision-making here: the roulette wheel has taken the place of the rule of law'.

Question 4

Why is it generally assumed that people will be granted bail?

Question 5

How has the role of the CPS changed over the past two decades?

Question 6

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC)'s role is to:

A)Review suspected miscarriages of justice
B)Report back to the Court of Appeal
C)decide on matters of innocence and guilt

Question 7

There have been a number of high profile miscarriages of justice in the UK since the 1970s. These have included:

A)The 'Guildford Four'
B)the 'Cardiff Three'
C)the 'Birmingham Six'
D)the 'Manchester Five'

Question 8

Why do prosecutors sometimes discontinue charges or 'drop the case'?

A)no evidence
B)not in the public interest
C)witness failed to appear

Question 9

How can the downgrading of charges by the CPS occur?

A)by accepting a plea of guilty to a lesser offence
B)by reducing charges to a lower level than was first intended
C)by paying compensation to the victim

Question 10

What percentage of defendants plead guilty in magistrates' courts?

A)20- 25%
B)90-95%
C)70- 75%

Question 11

What is the role of district judges?

A)to make judgements where the magistrates are unable to do so
B)to hear the more serious cases in the magistrates' courts
C)to travel around the district making sure the magistrates are sentencing properly

Question 12

How many cases are heard by magistrates each year in England and Wales?

A)five million
B)three million
C)two million

Question 13

Aside from sufficient evidence to have a reasonable prospect of conviction, what other principle should be kept in mind before prosecutors bring a case to court?

A)Whether the person is guilty
B)Whether it is in the public interest
C)Whether the person is suspected of a serious offence

Question 14

What was the result of Royal Commission in 1981 concerning the 1972 Confait case?

A)More people were executed
B)The murder rate reduced
C)the establishment of the CPS

Question 15

A significant proportion of prisoners on remand will be acquitted at court or have proceedings against them dropped.

Question 16

The 12 men and women of the jury must agree unanimously on their verdict.

Question 17

Judges are drawn from a wide range of social backgrounds.

Question 18

At Crown Court the cases are presided over by a judge.

Question 19

How are defendants protected from being convicted on evidence that is unfairly obtained?