Challenging a Decision of the Magistrates Court

Appealing Decisions of the Magistrates Court

There is an automatic right of appeal to the Crown Court from the Magistrates Court. This simply requires that the requisite appeal form is completed and served on the court within 15 working days.

The Crown Court will then list your case for a mention to fix and there will be a complete rehearing. The key difference is that your case will be heard by a Crown Court Judge and two Lay Magistrates.

You do not need to have grounds of appeal in order to appeal a decision of the Magistrates Court. If you wish to appeal your sentence, you should be aware that the Crown Court can impose a harsher sentence than that which you received at the Magistrates Court.

Making a Statutory Declaration

If the case was heard in your absence and you did not know about proceedings, you can make a statutory declaration to re-open the case. This means that the case will essentially be restarted.

The Prosecution are then required to prove the case properly and legal arguments can be made.

The making of a statutory declaration is essentially giving an oath to the Court that you did not know about proceedings.

The crucial step to take in respect of a statutory declaration is to ensure that it is done within the time limits. The declaration should be filed with the Magistrates Court within 21 days of the date that you became aware of the proceedings. Even if the date has expired, it is still possible to apply to extend the time limit so that the application can still be made.

Under the Statutory Declarations Act 1835, the defendant’s declaration can be made before anyone who is authorised by law to hear it (e.g. a solicitor), or before any Justice of the Peace (a magistrate or District Judge (Magistrates’ Courts). The best approach is to seek a listing at your local Magistrates Court and to deal with proceedings afresh.

Applying to re-open proceedings

There is a statutory power given to the Magistrates Court to re-open proceedings.

This application is governed by Section 142 of the Magistrates Court Act 1980. The test is whether or not it is in the interests of justice to re-open proceedings. This will normally be where the Court has not taken into account information or there has been an error of law.

This area of law is complex and it is important to instruct a legal representative who has experience in dealing with this area of law. Rhys has previously successfully made applications under this section. Some of the examples of where Rhys has been successful include the following:

- The Magistrates failed to consider medical evidence which explained the Defendant's absence;

- The District Judge imposed a sentence which was unlawful;

- The Magistrates proceeded in absence where there was a pending High Court action thus fettering the administrative court's discretion.

An application to re-open pursuant to Section 142 is a useful and under-used application.