This guide is intended to set out and explain what you can expect when attending the Crown Court for a trial. By way of introduction, a Crown Court trial takes place in a Court room and is heard by a Crown Court Judge and a jury of 12 members of the public selected at random from the local area.
Who's Who?
In the Crown Court, the Judge, legal representative, Court Clerk and Usher usually wear gowns. Wigs are reserved only for the Judge and the individuals appearing on behalf of the client (barristers or Solicitor advocates). Each uniform is different in their own way, for example, a barrister wears a black gown whilst the Judge may wear a gown featuring colours such as red or purple. These colours denote the type and seniority of Judge hearing the case. There are other, more subtle differences, like the fact that a Judge’s wig differs from a barrister’s wig, but ultimately this is of little importance to someone outside of the profession.
There will be a person sitting in front of the Judge, usually at a desk on the level below. This is the Court Clerk, who is responsible for facilitating the smooth running of Court proceedings. Their role is to support the Judge with anything which might arise in day to day proceedings, from liaising with other legal professionals, to arranging the Judge’s diary.
There will also be an Usher sitting in Court. The Usher usually sits within view of the jury, as their main role is to facilitate the jury coming and going from Court, ensuring they do not inadvertently communicate with parties to the case during breaks in proceedings, and also managing the coming and going of witnesses in a case.
In front of the Judge on either end of the barrister’s bench, will be the defence and prosecution advocates. They sit at opposite ends so as to easily identify which party they represent. Traditionally, the defence team sit closest to the jury box.
Behind the advocates is where the Solicitor or paralegal sits for each side so they can assist the advocate with any issues which arise during hearings. If your case is sufficiently complex, you may well have two advocates. One of the advocates may even be King’s Counsel.
Magistrates' Court Trial v Crown Court Trials
Whilst any trial scenario should be treated as a serious matter, the Magistrates’ Court is far less formal than the Crown Court. The Judge in the Magistrates’ Court does not wear a gown nor do magistrates. All parties in this Court, including legal representatives in a case, will wear business attire (formal suits). There are no wigs in the Magistrates’ Court.
In the Magistrates’ Court, the Judge is responsible for deciding the law and deciding whether someone is guilty or not guilty, after hearing the evidence. In the Crown Court, the Judge and jury have rather different roles. The Judge has the responsibility of making decisions based on the law, assisted by both prosecution and defence advocates via their legal arguments. The role of deciding whether someone is guilty or not guilty is left to the jury, who are directed on the law, by the Judge.
Day 1 of Your Crown Court Trial
Upon arrival at Court on your first day of trial, you will likely attend a pre-trial meeting (known within the legal industry as a ‘conference’) with your barrister. Your barrister may be accompanied by a representative from your Solicitor’s firm, such as a paralegal or the Solicitor who has dealt with your case from the outset.
At this conference, you will be advised as to the procedure behind the trial, and prepared as to what to expect from each phase of the trial. Your barrister will confirm your instructions, and any last items to discuss will be addressed. An example of things which commonly come up in these conferences, are;
Advising you as to whether anything might happen that will cause the trial to be delayed, or moved to another date;
Reminding you of the legal advice previously given to you throughout the case, including prospects of success at trial and the strengths and weakness of the prosecution and defence case;
Advising on any applications which are due to be made, or which may be made, to the Court (for example, your Solicitor may have received an application from the prosecution for a witness to attend via video link – this would be discussed with you and you will be advised whether or not this application is likely to be granted and how your defence team might go about contesting this request);
This meeting may also include an opportunity to review any new evidence served by the prosecution, and for your instructions to be taken in relation to that evidence.
Once your pre-trial conference has concluded, you will shortly enter the Court room. You are likely to have to wait for the Court to announce your trial over the tannoy system, calling all parties into a particular Court room.
In the Court Room
Inside the Court room, you are likely to be placed into the dock. This is a separate section of the court room, often encased in perforated glass panels, so you can see and hear everything going on around you.
The Judge will enter and you will be identified by giving your name, date of birth and address. Both defence and prosecution advocates will address the Judge regarding any preliminary issues which need to be resolved before the trial begins. If your case is particularly complex, the Judge may wish to use this time to hear legal arguments from both sides and this can take anywhere from 15 minutes, to multiple days (in the most complex of cases).
Once the preliminary issues are resolved, and the Judge is satisfied that the matter is ready for trial, they will ask their Usher to call in the jury-in-waiting. This is a group of individuals from the general public, chosen at random via the electoral register, who are required to attend to hear your trial. These people are every day citizens, teachers, builders, shop workers, doctors and nurses, as an example. Almost anybody can be called to jury service, even practicing Solicitors and barristers!
The jury-in-waiting will stand in the Court room, and will be asked to look around them at the parties in the case. If you, or if they, recognise anyone in the room, the Judge must be notified immediately to ensure that there is no risk of bias or conflict of interest in how the case is heard. This is an important part of the jury selection process, and remember that these people will be deciding your innocence or otherwise – so if you think you recognise someone, raise it with your advocate by signalling for their attention.
Someone may then read the names of all of the witnesses linked to the case, including the alleged victim, to ensure that nobody knows of or are related to any of the witnesses involved in the case. For certain cases, a jury questionnaire is prepared which provides names and relevant details that relate to the case. The prospective members of the jury will be given an opportunity to consider this and draw attention if they know any of the names.
Once everybody is satisfied that there are no conflicts of interest, the Judge will tell the jury-in-waiting that they are shortly to be selected to sit on the jury for this trial. They may be told at this point about the expected duration of the trial, and what the trial involves (such as the type of charges being dealt with).
The Court Clerk will read out names at random. These names are chosen by a computer program at random. Whoever’s name is called, will be asked to sit as a juror. They will be assigned a number from 1-12. A jury is made up of 12 people, but 14 may be chosen to ensure that there are no last-minute issues which arise at the beginning of the trial (such as illness, or last minute realisation that a juror knows someone in the case). If required, jurors 13 and 14 will take over from any juror who cannot remain on the jury.
When they are called, if a juror has a difficulty with being able to sit on the jury for the expected length, the Judge will privately hear from them and decide whether they should be excused or not.
The 14 jurors selected will then be asked to swear an oath. The oath, in short, is a promise to try the case according to the evidence presented, and to come to a verdict based on the evidence alone. The jurors-in-waiting left over from the selection process return to the waiting room to be called for other trials taking place in the building.
The Case is Underway
Trials in the Crown Court take place in two halves, the prosecution case first, and the defence case second. This is, among other reasons, so the jury are left with the defence evidence fresh in their minds, and are not tempted to convict just because they remember the prosecution case best. Afterall, the jury must be sure of someone’s guilt before moving to convict them of a crime.
The prosecuting advocate will ‘open’ the case to the jury. They will explain in summary form the allegations against you, and the evidence they are going to seek to introduce. After their opening speech, the prosecution will begin calling their evidence. This will be in the form of witnesses attending at Court, perhaps on a video link, and also by introducing documentary evidence or media-based evidence (CCTV footage, body camera footage, etcetera) and finally by reading out agreed facts – matters that are not in dispute in the case.
After a witness has given evidence for the prosecution, the defence advocate is given the opportunity to test their evidence, by asking questions on your behalf. For example, if a witness says they saw a person fitting your description punching the complainant, your defence barrister will be able to ask them questions designed to demonstrate how that witness may have been mistaken.
After all prosecution witnesses have been dealt with, the defence case will open. The defence will call its witnesses, and the prosecution barrister will have an opportunity to cross-examine each witness in the same manner as above.
The first witness in a defence case is usually you, the defendant. If you have been advised to, or you have decided to, refrain from giving evidence, the prosecution cannot force you to do so.
Once the defence have called their final witness, the prosecution will make a closing speech followed by the defence advocate.
The Judge will then sum the case up for the jury, which takes the form of a reminder of the evidence they heard but also to give them directions where it relates to the law. The summing up must be fair, balanced and accurate, without rehearsing every single piece of evidence in a case.
The jury will then be asked to formally retire, to consider their verdict. They will retire to a confidential ‘deliberation room’, and will have no contact with any party to the case. They will then discuss all they have heard during the trial, with the aim of coming to a unanimous decision regarding your guilt or innocence.
Deliberations could take days, weeks or months and this is often dictated by the length, complexity and seriousness of the case. Some advocates have a general rule of thumb that a jury should be allowed to deliberate for half of the time of the trial, before the Judge should ask them for a majority verdict as opposed to unanimous verdict. This is only a rule of thumb, however, and in reality there is no time limit imposed on a jury by law regarding how long they have to deliberate.
A jury must reach a unanimous verdict in which all 12 members of the jury agree either to find you guilty or not guilty.
If however they are not able to do so, the Judge can give the jury a majority direction, which means the jury should still try to reach a unanimous verdict but if that is not possible, the Judge will accept a verdict where at least 10 jurors agree.
If the jury, after the majority direction, still cannot return a verdict, they will be discharged. This means there is no verdict and the prosecution will be given some time to decide whether to pursue a re-trial if they feel it is in the public interest to do so.
If the verdict is one of guilty, the Judge may decide to proceed to sentence on the same date with the jury present. The Judge may also decide to adjourn the matter for sentence on another date. The sentence process is covered in a separate article.
If the jury, however, return verdicts of not guilty, you are formally acquitted of those charges and cannot be re-tried for them in most cases under the principles of double-jeopardy. You will then be free to leave Court, leaving the worry and stress of the proceedings behind you.
Note: juries can, in cases where more than one offence is alleged, find a defendant guilty of one or more, whilst finding the defendant not guilty of others. This is very common.
FAQ's:
Q: How do I know what time to get to Court for my trial?
A: The Court lists for the next day are published at 5pm each day. Your Solicitor’s firm will likely call you the evening before your trial (if your trial is on a Monday, the Friday beforehand) to inform you of the Court, Court room and listing time. If for any reason they don’t call, don’t assume you don’t have to go! Call your Solicitors before they close, to check.
Q: How will my advocate know where to meet me?
A: Your Solicitor will advise you on this before you arrive, and usually you will wait for your advocate outside of the Court room your case is due to be heard in.
Q: I am mid-way through giving evidence to the Court. My advocate will not speak to me in breaks – why?
In order to ensure your evidence is free of outside influence, your advocate is not allowed to discuss the case with you whilst you are in the witness box giving evidence. If there is a break, but you have not finished your evidence, your advocate cannot discuss any of the case with you, or tell you how to improve/how you are doing. This also applies where there is a break over a weekend, or overnight. If you have any concerns, you can ask your Solicitors – but remember, they are also unable to discuss the case with you until your time in the witness box has come to an end.
Q: Help! I want to discuss something with my legal team, but my trial has already begun. What do I do?
A: Don’t fret! There will be plenty of opportunities to confer with your legal team during the trial, such as during breaks, lunch recesses, and before and after each day of trial. If there is something urgent which develops, you can always signal to your representative who can speak with you away from the Judge and jury about your concerns.
Q: What if there is something which needs to be raised but the jury is still in the room? Won’t this harm my case?
A: Any questions of law, or concerns from either side in a case, will be determined with the jury being sent out of the room first. Your advocate will discretely raise this with the Judge, perhaps by standing and simply stating ‘a point of law has arisen’. You can rest assured that the jury will therefore be protected from anything said, until a Judge has had the chance to hear those concerns and make a ruling on whether something should be put before the jury.
Useful Resources
Our comprehensive guide to trials in the Magistrates’ Court: www.hallinans.co.uk/post/trial-in-the-magistrates-Court-what-to-expect
For guidance if you are unsure on whether you need legal representation: www.hallinans.co.uk/post/if-i-am-innocent-do-i-need-a-Solicitor
For guidance if your case is listed as a ‘warned list’ trial, and what this means for your case: www.hallinans.co.uk/post/crown-Court-warned-list
To help find the location of the Court you are due to appear at, including contact information: www.gov.uk/find-Court-tribunal
To see the following day’s Court list: www.Courtserve.net
Legal disclaimer: Articles are intended as an introduction to the topic and do not constitute legal advice. The information contained herein is accurate at the date of publication but please note that the law is ever changing and evolving. If you require advice in relation to any matter raised in this article please contact a member of the team.