Committal for Trial
Committal for trial in Law Enforcement
Main Entry: Law Enforcement in the Legal Dictionary. This section provides, in the context of Law Enforcement, a partial definition of committal for trial.
Resources
See Also
- Law Enforcement Officer
- Police Officer
- Law Enforcement Agency
Further Reading
- committal for trial in A Dictionary of Law Enforcement (Oxford University Press)
- committal for trial in the Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement
- A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis
English Legal System: Committal For Trial
In the context of the English law, A Dictionary of Law provides the following legal concept of Committal For Trial : The referring of a case from a magistrates’ court for trial at the Crown Court following a *preliminary investigation by the magistrates. The committal proceedings may consist of taking *depositions from all the witnesses in the form of oral evidence. Alternatively the committal may take a short form under section 6 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980. This occurs when the accused agrees that the prosecution should put all its evidence in writing; the justices may then commit for trial without considering the evidence. The accused does not have to disclose any defence that he intends to put forward at the trial, but must, not later than seven days after committal, give notice of any intended *alibi and details of the witnesses he is going to call in support of it. A committal without consideration of the evidence may only take place if the accused is legally represented. The press may normally only report certain limited facts about committal proceedings, such as the name of the accused and the charges. However, if the accused asks that reporting restrictions be lifted, the magistrates may allow publication of full details of the proceedings. Concern as to the effectiveness of committal proceedings in preventing weak cases going to trial led to provisions in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which have now created a new transfer for trial procedure, based upon consideration of case documents. The Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 lays down new committal procedures.
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