The magistrates’ courts hear a wide variety of lower level criminal cases in England and Wales. When charged with a criminal offence for which you appear before the magistrates’ court, (or Youth Court) a number of things can happen. You may plead guilty to the offence with which you are charged, or be found guilty after a trial, after which you will have a conviction. In less common situations, the Crown may decide that they have insufficient evidence to continue to prosecute you, or that proceeding with the case against you is not in the public interest. It is possible for magistrates to proceed to try your case in your absence, so you can be found guilty of an offence even if you don’t attend your trial.
If you've been convicted and want to understand the potential penalties before deciding whether to appeal, you can use our free Sentence Guide.
Sentencing - Once Convicted
Once you are convicted of an offence the magistrates may sentence you on the same day, or decide that they want further information about you before they decide how to sentence you (usually by way of a report compiled by the Probation Service, or if you are a youth, by the Youth Offending Team). If they consider that their powers of sentencing are insufficient to deal with your case in the magistrates’ court they may decide to commit you to the Crown Court for sentence.
Appealing Against Sentence or Conviction
You have a right to appeal against the decisions of the magistrates’ courts. If you were found guilty after a trial, you can appeal to the Crown Court against your conviction. However, if you pleaded guilty and were sentenced in the magistrates’ court you will not be able to appeal against your conviction, but you can still appeal against the length or nature of your sentence.
Find the right court form for your situation. Family, civil, criminal and tribunal forms.
Try our Court Form Finder free, here on this site →Procedure When Appealing
You must provide the prosecutor with your notice to appeal against your conviction or sentence within 21 days. It is possible to apply to the legal services commission for legal representation at your appeal. The Crown Court will give you a date when you must attend for your appeal, which will be heard by two magistrates and a Crown Court judge. There is no jury, but your entire case will be heard again. If your appeal is against sentence only, the prosecutor will tell the court details of your conviction and you or your lawyer will then tell the court about your personal and financial circumstances, if appropriate, and ‘mitigate’ in relation to the offence itself. If your appeal is against conviction, the witnesses who gave evidence at your original trial in the magistrates’ court will be required to give evidence again.
However, it is important to note that as well as quashing a conviction and reducing a sentence, the judge and magistrates are also entitled to impose a harsher or different sentence and may also make you liable to pay the prosecution’s costs if they consider that you shouldn’t have brought the appeal in the first place. There is no further right of appeal after you have appealed to the Crown Court from the Magistrates’ Court.
Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.
Appeals to The Divisional (High) Court From The Magistrates’ Court
In certain circumstances if you or your lawyer considers that the magistrates’ court has got the law wrong you can appeal to the Divisional Court ‘by way of case stated’. This procedure can be complicated and you should always consult a lawyer before embarking on this process. It should be noted that this type of appeal can only consider decisions relating to the law, rather than any evidence relating to facts (for which you should use the Crown Court process.) This type of appeal is only available for cases that have concluded. If you succeed, your case is usually sent back to the Magistrates’ Court with directions as to how to proceed.
Judicial Review
For appeals relating to decisions on points of law prior to the conclusion of a case, the procedure is called Judicial Review. In this type of appeal, the magistrates are asked to ‘stay the proceedings’ pending an application for Judicial Review (or JR.) The High Court considers the decision making process of the Magistrates’ Court to determine whether or not they made an error in law. Again this is a complex procedure and you should always consult a lawyer before embarking on this process.
A man set his dog on a cat to kill it. He got 18 weeks. surely he should get longer?
We thought it would be finished, however, we recieved a court summons. We went to court and pled guilty to livestock worrying on the advice of our solicitor who stated that just 1 person identifying my dog was enough for a conviction. Plead guilty he said and get a small fine and compensation. So we did. We got a £500 fine. Plus court costs and compensation of £182. The farmer stated the sheep was worth £40.00 an order was placed that my dogs can never be off a lead in public or private and if seen off a lead will be destroyed. The farmer stated he saw 2 blacl and white dogs and a red dog. I dont own black and white dogs but do own a red collie. My daughters blue tri coloured collie has the destruction order too. He claimed the red collie was covered in blood on its face and chest yet while he is standing on my doorstep with my dog infront of him my dog has not a spec of blood on him. The village has had problems with dogs running loose and worrying sheep for a couple if years. Because the farmer stated black and white dog the magistrates put the order on the blue tri claiming he is black and white. Anyway since this happened last Wednesday 2 large black and white dogs have been seen regularly through the village. I reported it to 101 purely because of the destruction order on my dog and people suddenly claiming these loose dogs are mine and they come to take my dog away. The police arrive today to take a statement. We showed them out video evidence of these roaming dogs and also the video evidence of my red dog just a few minutes after the incident apparently happened. The officer was really shocked and asked why we hadnt shown that video at the interview. We said we were advised to say nothing. I said that I needed to protect the blue tri dog because everyone will assume these dogs are ours. She asked if we were going to appeal the sentence? Financially we can't afford a solicitor again. Are there any costs involved in appealing if you represent yourself. The police seemed of the opinion had we shown the video there would never have been a court case. Its been so upsetting. My red dog has been rehomed due to the destruction order as he can be a houdini and I dont want to take the risk with his life. Can anyone offer any advice please as to how this process works and any possible costs involved. Can we appeal if we plead guilty with mitigation? Cam we appeal if we felt we were given incorrect advice by our solicitor? Thanks
I knew nothing about any conviction, court dates etc, received no mail. I also moved house beginning 2018.
I have proof showing I was in Scotland on the date of the offence in question.
Do I have a right of appeal?
My son was sick and has a gp letter to support his non attendance at the trial but the case was heard in his absence and he was found guilty recieving 6 points and £650 fine.
Can we appeal given he would have attended if we was fit to and that I was prepared to give evidence as per my statement.
He has a solicitor
I received fixed penalty notice of £100 and 3 points to my driving licence. Initially I paid for the penalty and sent filled in form they posted to me. But then they withdrew my payment and then sent me court letter asking me to plead guilty or not. In addition I had to pay £420. So I paid and did not question that. I just realised that the reason they withdrew £100 and sent my case to court is that I did not sent my driving licence. I was not aware that I should send them my driving licence to endorse the penalty points, also if it was requested on the letter I would have known that I should send it. Could you advice me if I can appeal to receive some money back?
At the end of the test he told me unfortunately I did not pass, handed me the form and began to walk away from the vehicle. I had to ask him why I failed to get an explanation. He told me that I hesitated coming out of a junction.(Got a serious fault)
I explained to him that cars tuning left into my junction were being overtaken by cars going straight ahead as there was a queue. His response was "I'm sure your instructor will tell you why you failed" and walked away.
He did not explained the report (had 11 faults in total which we could not explain) and I was also asked to pull over six times on the left randomly which my instructor said was very unusual (never happened).
I felt discriminated and cheated of a driving test result after hours of study and dedication.
They lied to me and they knew I was disabled. What can I do now help please
Ask Courtroom Advice a question
Ask our editorial team a question and we will reply with our advice. Tell us as much about your situation as you can: the more detail you give, the more useful our answer can be.
You do not need to use your real name. Please do not include your full address, phone number, email address, or the names of other people. We may edit or remove identifying details for privacy and legal reasons.
Comments are moderated before publication.