Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in which circumstances magistrates are required to send cases to the Crown Court in cases in which their sentencing powers would be sufficient to deal with the cases in their court.

There are a range of circumstances which would require magistrates to send cases within their sentencing powers to the Crown Court for trial including those involving indictable-only offences; or where the offence concerned is linked to one or more other offences which must be tried in the Crown Court; or where the defendant elects for a jury trial; or, in youth cases, where the offence involves an adult co-defendant who must be tried in the Crown Court.

In accordance with the Allocation Guideline issued by the independent Sentencing Council, magistrates should take account of any potential mitigation and guilty plea, which would bring a case within their jurisdiction. Where they are uncertain about the adequacy of their powers, they should retain a case and commit for sentence if they later take the view that it falls outside their sentencing powers.