What happens when a criminal case is sent from magistrates' to crown court

If you have been charged with an offence, your case will almost always start in the magistrates' court - but if deemed serious enough, you will be sent to the crown court. The crown court - located in over 70 centres across England and Wales - deals with the most serious criminal offences, including murder, manslaughter and rape.

When you are charged you will first be sent to the magistrates' court for a first hearing, where you will appear before a magistrate or district judge. Depending on how serious your alleged crime is, they will then determine if your next appearance will be back at magistrates' court if it will be sent to the crown.

Offences are split into three categories - indictable only; either way or summary only. Indictable only offences are the most serious offences and can only be dealt with at the crown court. This means that if you are charged with an indictable only offence - such as murder, manslaughter and rape - you will be sent to crown court where you will then enter a plea with the potential for the case to then go to trial.

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Either way offences - such as assault, some drug offences and certain sex offences - can be dealt with in either court. If a defendant in an either way case chooses to plead not guilty and request a jury trial, they will be sent to crown court. Even if the defendant doesn't request a jury trial, magistrates can decide to send them for trial in the higher court if the offence is deemed serious enough.

When deciding where cases should be heard, magistrates' will follow an allocation guidelines and take into account the facts of the case, any legal complexities and potential aggravating and mitigating factors.

Summary only offences are dealt with at magistrates' court. These include most motoring offences; minor criminal damage and common assault. If your case would be dealt with in magistrates' court, you can only be sentenced to up to six months in prison, or up to 12 months in total if there is more than one offence.

You can also receive a maximum fine of up to £5,000. If the sentence is likely to exceed this, the magistrate or judge would be inclined to send the case, even if you have been convicted in the lower court, to crown court to appear before a judge or recorder who have greater powers.

You will often appear for your first hearing at magistrates' court soon after you are charged. But alarming backlogs in criminal courts continue to grow leaving victims and defendants waiting years for justice. Figures released in June this year said at the end of April there were 68,125 outstanding cases in the crown courts and 387,042 in the magistrates' court.

Nick Emmerson, the president of Law Society of England and Wales, said: "It is unacceptable that victims, witnesses and defendants are having to wait so long, with their lives in limbo, to access justice. The criminal justice system is in crisis with huge backlogs of cases, crumbling courts and overcrowded prisons.

“There simply are not enough judges and lawyers to work on all the cases and we have heard concerning reports that court buildings are not being used to their full capacity." There have been exceptions in recent months, with those charged with violent disorder following rioting in Southport, Liverpool and later around the UK being processed quicker.