ABSTRACT
We have already seen that all criminal cases begin in the magistrates’ court (either an information is laid and a summons is issued requiring the defendant to attend the magistrates’ court, or else the defendant is arrested, charged and required to appear at the magistrates’ court). If the offence of which the defendant is accused is to be tried in the Crown Court, either because it is triable only on indictment or because it was decided at the mode of trial hearing that it should be tried in the Crown Court, the magistrates have first to decide whether the prosecution are able to make out a prima facie case against the defendant. They do this by means of ‘committal proceedings’. The object is to filter out cases where there is insufficient evidence against an accused to justify a trial.
