Crosswords0 min ago
sentencing at crown court
7 Answers
My partners case was dealt with at crown court last month. The judge said he was to return for sentencing at a different court the week commencing the 22nd March. He calls the solicitors office every day as requested to see if hes in court the next day. He was told this could carry on for ages. He recieved a letter saying he will be given 18 hours notice. Very confused, can anyone explain why this is like it is, I though you go back to court on a given date, were sentenced and that was that. The solicitors are not very helpful with providing information
Answers
1 to 7 of 7
Best Answer
No best answer has yet been selected by bubbly2000. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.
Courts schedule complex trials to take several days or even several weeks, but those trials often end early (due to a defendant changing his plea to guilty, for example) or get postponed (perhaps because a key witness is ill). That would leave a courtroom free, with the judge and court officials having no work to do.
In order to prevent this waste of resources, court hearings which take only a small amount of time (such as sentencing) are often placed onto 'warned lists', so that they can be slotted into the gaps left by other hearings which are postponed or end early.
The '18 hours' you refer to is the minimum notice which a defendant should be given as to when his hearing will take place. In practice rather longer notice is often provided. For example a trial might be scheduled to last from Monday to Friday but the defendant changes his plea to guilty on the Monday morning. The court Listings Officer will then start filling up the gaps in the schedule. A defendant on the warned list (or his solicitor) might be notified on the Monday afternoon, or on the Tuesday morning, that the hearing will take place on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday (depending upon how the Listings Officer arranges the court's timetable).
Chris
In order to prevent this waste of resources, court hearings which take only a small amount of time (such as sentencing) are often placed onto 'warned lists', so that they can be slotted into the gaps left by other hearings which are postponed or end early.
The '18 hours' you refer to is the minimum notice which a defendant should be given as to when his hearing will take place. In practice rather longer notice is often provided. For example a trial might be scheduled to last from Monday to Friday but the defendant changes his plea to guilty on the Monday morning. The court Listings Officer will then start filling up the gaps in the schedule. A defendant on the warned list (or his solicitor) might be notified on the Monday afternoon, or on the Tuesday morning, that the hearing will take place on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday (depending upon how the Listings Officer arranges the court's timetable).
Chris
You will probably find that the Judge that presided over his case at a previous hearing, will be the sam Judge at sentencing. The Judges travel around and I suspect that the listings clerk will try and arrange for your partners case to 'tie up' with the availability of the Judge and the Barristers representing your partner and the Crown Prosecution Service.
1 to 7 of 7
