This document provides information about civil law cases in the UK legal system. It defines civil cases as disputes where an individual or business believes their rights have been infringed. It describes different types of civil claims like contract disputes, negligence cases, and trespass. It explains the typical process for civil cases, including negotiation, consulting a solicitor, and taking a case to court. It discusses the county court and high court systems for hearing civil cases, and outlines the small claims, fast, and multi-track processes for allocating cases based on value and complexity.
This document outlines potential charges and defenses for a homicide case where the defendant (D) caused the death of the victim (V). It discusses whether D intended death or grievous bodily harm and the requirements for proving the actus reus and mens rea for homicide offenses. It also lists the partial defenses of diminished responsibility, loss of control, and suicide pact that could reduce a murder charge to voluntary manslaughter. Additionally, it mentions involuntary manslaughter could result if death was caused by an unlawful and dangerous act, gross negligence, or subjective recklessness.
The Law Commission is the main law reform body in England and Wales, established in 1965. Its roles include systematically reviewing all English law, repealing or consolidating outdated statutes, receiving and considering proposals for law reform, and proposing reforms through consultation papers and draft bills. While the Commission was quite successful in its early decades, getting around 85% of proposals enacted into law within the first 10 years, its success rate declined later as parliamentary time and interest in technical reforms decreased. However, it has seen some improvements more recently with several notable reforms being passed into law.
This document provides vocabulary related to criminal law. Key terms in criminal law are defined to help understand legal concepts and proceedings. Understanding criminal law terminology is important for those working in or learning about the criminal justice system.
This document outlines an essay plan on the topic of justice. It will define justice, discuss different theories of justice, and examine whether the English legal system achieves procedural and substantive justice. Theories to be covered include those from Aristotle, natural law theorists, utilitarians like Mill and Bentham, Rawls, Nozick, positivists like Kelson, and Marx. The essay will then assess whether the English legal system provides procedural justice through rules ensuring fair trials and evidence, and aims for substantive justice through correcting miscarriages, avoiding awkward precedents, jury decisions, equity, and proportional sentencing.
The Police are allowed to request removal of three items during a stop and search: anything that could be used to harm, anything that could be stolen, anything that could destroy evidence. Arbitration involves a third party making a legally binding decision. Pre-trial hearings take place in magistrates' courts. The Queen's Bench Division hears cases involving contract and tort. Three of the four main options for sentencing are fines, community sentences, imprisonment, and discharging the offender or dismissing the case. Magistrates will not hear indictable-only offences.
This document provides information about civil law cases in the UK legal system. It defines civil cases as disputes where an individual or business believes their rights have been infringed. It describes different types of civil claims like contract disputes, negligence cases, and trespass. It explains the typical process for civil cases, including negotiation, consulting a solicitor, and taking a case to court. It discusses the county court and high court systems for hearing civil cases, and outlines the small claims, fast, and multi-track processes for allocating cases based on value and complexity.
This document outlines potential charges and defenses for a homicide case where the defendant (D) caused the death of the victim (V). It discusses whether D intended death or grievous bodily harm and the requirements for proving the actus reus and mens rea for homicide offenses. It also lists the partial defenses of diminished responsibility, loss of control, and suicide pact that could reduce a murder charge to voluntary manslaughter. Additionally, it mentions involuntary manslaughter could result if death was caused by an unlawful and dangerous act, gross negligence, or subjective recklessness.
The Law Commission is the main law reform body in England and Wales, established in 1965. Its roles include systematically reviewing all English law, repealing or consolidating outdated statutes, receiving and considering proposals for law reform, and proposing reforms through consultation papers and draft bills. While the Commission was quite successful in its early decades, getting around 85% of proposals enacted into law within the first 10 years, its success rate declined later as parliamentary time and interest in technical reforms decreased. However, it has seen some improvements more recently with several notable reforms being passed into law.
This document provides vocabulary related to criminal law. Key terms in criminal law are defined to help understand legal concepts and proceedings. Understanding criminal law terminology is important for those working in or learning about the criminal justice system.
This document outlines an essay plan on the topic of justice. It will define justice, discuss different theories of justice, and examine whether the English legal system achieves procedural and substantive justice. Theories to be covered include those from Aristotle, natural law theorists, utilitarians like Mill and Bentham, Rawls, Nozick, positivists like Kelson, and Marx. The essay will then assess whether the English legal system provides procedural justice through rules ensuring fair trials and evidence, and aims for substantive justice through correcting miscarriages, avoiding awkward precedents, jury decisions, equity, and proportional sentencing.
The Police are allowed to request removal of three items during a stop and search: anything that could be used to harm, anything that could be stolen, anything that could destroy evidence. Arbitration involves a third party making a legally binding decision. Pre-trial hearings take place in magistrates' courts. The Queen's Bench Division hears cases involving contract and tort. Three of the four main options for sentencing are fines, community sentences, imprisonment, and discharging the offender or dismissing the case. Magistrates will not hear indictable-only offences.
The document discusses the concepts of mens rea (guilty mind) and actus reus (guilty act) in criminal law, focusing on the meaning of intention and how it has been interpreted by courts. It examines cases related to direct intention, oblique/indirect intention, foresight of consequences, recklessness, gross negligence, and the doctrines of continuing acts and one transaction. However, it concludes that the law on intention remains unclear and unsatisfactory, and legislation is needed to properly define intention.
This document discusses the debate around whether judges make law or merely declare existing law. [1] It outlines the traditional declaratory theory view that judges only discover and apply the law. [2] However, modern views recognize that judges necessarily make new law in cases where no rules exist or when interpreting statutes. [3] Judges exercise creativity through distinguishing precedents, setting original precedents, and interpreting statutes purposively rather than literally.
The document discusses the extent to which criminal law relating to omissions reflects the view that law should encourage citizens to do 'the right thing' and not fail to help those in need. Generally under common law, omissions cannot constitute offenses. However, the law has recognized limited liability for omissions where a duty to act exists, such as statutory, contractual, or familial duties. The law's recognition of duty situations encourages citizens to act when they can reasonably help those in need, reflecting the idea that law should promote moral behavior. However, some argue it is difficult to define clear duty situations and imposing broad duties could threaten individual freedom and overwhelm the legal system.
This document summarizes key legal cases related to theft, robbery, burglary, criminal damage, and aggravated criminal damage. It discusses elements of these offenses such as the actus reus of appropriation in theft cases like Morris, Lawrence, and Hinks. It also covers mens rea requirements like the two-part test for dishonesty established in Ghosh and the need for intent to permanently deprive established in cases like Velumyl and Lavender. The document discusses legal definitions and cases related to elements of offenses like the use of force in robbery (Corcoran v Anderton), what constitutes entry in burglary (Collins, Brown, Ryan), and what qualifies as criminal damage (Roe v
This document outlines several key articles related to human rights:
Article 2 establishes everyone's right to life and prohibits the death penalty except for the most serious crimes. Article 3 bans torture and cruel/inhuman treatment. Article 4 prohibits slavery and forced labor. Article 5 guarantees liberty and security, prohibiting arbitrary arrest/detention. Article 6 ensures the right to a fair trial.
The document defines law and morals, provides examples of actions that are illegal and/or immoral, identifies differences between law and morals, and discusses arguments around whether law should reflect morality. It examines Durkheim's views on moral views in society, examples of offenses from morals, why Devlin argued law should reflect morals, and why Hart challenged this view and argued law should not reflect morality. Specific legislation around abortion, fertility treatment, and poll tax are also mentioned.
Barrister training has advantages such as providing an alternative route for mature students and on-the-job training through pupillages. However, it also has disadvantages like high course fees that can deter those from poorer backgrounds, lengthy training periods with low salaries compared to solicitors, and competitive pupillage placements with limited numbers available each year. Overall, barrister training offers hands-on experience but comes with financial barriers and uncertainty in securing full training.
1. Ralf and Rocky killed the wrong person, Phil the postman, mistakenly believing he was Graham who had stolen their drugs. They laid in wait and shot him in the chest with the intent to kill Graham.
2. Fran saw her son Frank at risk of drowning in a pond but did not help him or warn him in order to avoid ruining her new jumper. Frank subsequently drowned in the pond.
3. Dan was playing with a gun in the park and shot it towards his friend Jonny who had climbed a tree to get away. Jonny fell from the tree after being shot and died from head injuries from the fall.
This document provides vocabulary related to criminal law. Key terms in criminal law are defined to help understand legal concepts and proceedings. Understanding criminal law terminology is important for those working in or learning about the criminal justice system.
The document describes three examples of potential criminal acts and asks to identify the type of mens rea, or guilty mind, shown in each based on case law. The first example involves a young girl being struck by airgun pellets fired from an apartment, where the appellant claimed they were just seeing how far they would go. The second involves a student accidentally pouring acid from a boiling tube into a hand dryer, injuring another student. The third involves a woman intentionally driving her car into her cheating lover, seriously injuring him.
This document provides a quiz testing knowledge of who can serve on a jury according to UK law. It lists 10 potential jurors and asks the reader to state whether each could serve, providing brief reasons. Those who could serve include a retired company director, a midwife, and a housewife. Those who could not serve include a practising barrister due to a conflict of interest, a 17-year-old due to being underage, a convicted bank robber due to having a criminal record, a law student who has an exam conflict, and someone recently fined for shoplifting due to having a criminal record.
The document describes three scenarios involving wills and asks whether each will would be considered valid based on legal requirements for wills. The first scenario involves a will written on the back of a cheque book signed by two witnesses. The second scenario involves a will written by a friend for a disabled person and witnessed by two underage witnesses. The third scenario describes a will made by a minor sailor and witnessed by one person.
This document provides the marking scheme for the January 2011 GCE LAW examination in England and Wales. It includes marking criteria and guidelines for 6 different law options that were assessed. For each question, it identifies the assessment objectives being tested, such as knowledge of the law (AO1) and skills in legal argument and reasoning (AO2). Sample answers are also provided to illustrate how different levels of response would be marked. The marking scheme aims to ensure examiners apply criteria consistently across all student scripts.
The document discusses the law around involuntary manslaughter in England and assesses if the law is muddled and unjust. It outlines the different types of involuntary manslaughter including gross negligence, unlawful act manslaughter, and subjective reckless manslaughter. It analyzes cases that illustrate inconsistencies and unjust outcomes. While the law commission proposed reforms, the conclusion is that the current law is adequate and changing it further may only add more confusion.
The document discusses the aims of sentencing in the UK criminal justice system. When judges pass sentences, they must decide on the appropriate sentence and what they hope to achieve with it. The main aims of sentencing are punishment, deterrence, rehabilitation, protection of the public, reparation, and denunciation. The document provides examples of cases involving a teenager stealing during riots, iPhone robbers convicted of murder, and a rugby star sentenced for grievous bodily harm to illustrate how judges determine sentences based on the aims.
This document outlines the qualifications and training required to become a solicitor or barrister in the UK legal system. It discusses the academic and vocational stages of training, including obtaining a law degree, completing the Legal Practice Course for solicitors or Bar Professional Training Course for barristers, and undertaking a training contract or pupillage. The duties of solicitors, who work in private practice, and barristers, who work as advocates in courts, are also summarized. Finally, the document questions whether the legal profession achieves equality, as women and ethnic minorities remain underrepresented.
The document discusses various influences on law reform in the UK, including the Law Commission, Royal Commissions, public inquiries, the media, pressure groups, manifesto promises, and European Union law. It provides details on the role and purpose of the Law Commission and Royal Commissions in examining existing laws and advocating for legal changes. Examples are given of public inquiries that led to reforms, such as the Taylor Report after Hillsborough and the Cullen Report after Dunblane.
This document provides instructions for a "Legal Aid Bingo" game where players choose 9 of 15 legal terms to write in a bingo card. The game leader will then randomly select definitions for those terms, with the goal of players getting a full bingo line or full house by matching definitions to their chosen terms. Some of the legal terms listed include things like income based job seekers allowance, legal services commission, access to justice act 1999, and courts and legal services act 1990.
This document defines and explains the legal definitions of assault and battery in UK law. Assault is defined as intentionally or recklessly causing another to apprehend immediate unlawful violence. Battery is defined as the unlawful application of force to another. Both assault and battery require intent or recklessness, and do not require hostile conduct as long as the force or threat of force was unlawful.
This document discusses the exceptions to the general principle in criminal law that an omission (failure to act) does not constitute an actus reus. It outlines six exceptions where an omission can be considered a criminal offense: 1) statutory duty, 2) contractual duty, 3) voluntary assumption of responsibility, 4) avert a danger of your own making, 5) public duty, and 6) special relationship. It provides examples of cases that fall under each exception and discusses potential confusions between some of the exceptions, such as contractual versus public duty, and voluntary assumption versus special relationship. It also addresses issues that can arise in medical cases regarding omissions.
The document discusses the small claims procedure in the UK legal system. It was introduced in 1973 to provide a quick, simple and cheap way to make a claim in court for amounts under £5000. Key aspects of the small claims procedure include individuals bringing their own cases to reduce costs, the use of lay representatives or district judges who are trained to handle such cases, and the lack of awarding legal costs to the winner which discourages lawyers. The document outlines advantages like low costs and speed, as well as disadvantages such as potential unfairness if one party has a lawyer and difficulties collecting awarded money.
The document discusses the concepts of mens rea (guilty mind) and actus reus (guilty act) in criminal law, focusing on the meaning of intention and how it has been interpreted by courts. It examines cases related to direct intention, oblique/indirect intention, foresight of consequences, recklessness, gross negligence, and the doctrines of continuing acts and one transaction. However, it concludes that the law on intention remains unclear and unsatisfactory, and legislation is needed to properly define intention.
This document discusses the debate around whether judges make law or merely declare existing law. [1] It outlines the traditional declaratory theory view that judges only discover and apply the law. [2] However, modern views recognize that judges necessarily make new law in cases where no rules exist or when interpreting statutes. [3] Judges exercise creativity through distinguishing precedents, setting original precedents, and interpreting statutes purposively rather than literally.
The document discusses the extent to which criminal law relating to omissions reflects the view that law should encourage citizens to do 'the right thing' and not fail to help those in need. Generally under common law, omissions cannot constitute offenses. However, the law has recognized limited liability for omissions where a duty to act exists, such as statutory, contractual, or familial duties. The law's recognition of duty situations encourages citizens to act when they can reasonably help those in need, reflecting the idea that law should promote moral behavior. However, some argue it is difficult to define clear duty situations and imposing broad duties could threaten individual freedom and overwhelm the legal system.
This document summarizes key legal cases related to theft, robbery, burglary, criminal damage, and aggravated criminal damage. It discusses elements of these offenses such as the actus reus of appropriation in theft cases like Morris, Lawrence, and Hinks. It also covers mens rea requirements like the two-part test for dishonesty established in Ghosh and the need for intent to permanently deprive established in cases like Velumyl and Lavender. The document discusses legal definitions and cases related to elements of offenses like the use of force in robbery (Corcoran v Anderton), what constitutes entry in burglary (Collins, Brown, Ryan), and what qualifies as criminal damage (Roe v
This document outlines several key articles related to human rights:
Article 2 establishes everyone's right to life and prohibits the death penalty except for the most serious crimes. Article 3 bans torture and cruel/inhuman treatment. Article 4 prohibits slavery and forced labor. Article 5 guarantees liberty and security, prohibiting arbitrary arrest/detention. Article 6 ensures the right to a fair trial.
The document defines law and morals, provides examples of actions that are illegal and/or immoral, identifies differences between law and morals, and discusses arguments around whether law should reflect morality. It examines Durkheim's views on moral views in society, examples of offenses from morals, why Devlin argued law should reflect morals, and why Hart challenged this view and argued law should not reflect morality. Specific legislation around abortion, fertility treatment, and poll tax are also mentioned.
Barrister training has advantages such as providing an alternative route for mature students and on-the-job training through pupillages. However, it also has disadvantages like high course fees that can deter those from poorer backgrounds, lengthy training periods with low salaries compared to solicitors, and competitive pupillage placements with limited numbers available each year. Overall, barrister training offers hands-on experience but comes with financial barriers and uncertainty in securing full training.
1. Ralf and Rocky killed the wrong person, Phil the postman, mistakenly believing he was Graham who had stolen their drugs. They laid in wait and shot him in the chest with the intent to kill Graham.
2. Fran saw her son Frank at risk of drowning in a pond but did not help him or warn him in order to avoid ruining her new jumper. Frank subsequently drowned in the pond.
3. Dan was playing with a gun in the park and shot it towards his friend Jonny who had climbed a tree to get away. Jonny fell from the tree after being shot and died from head injuries from the fall.
This document provides vocabulary related to criminal law. Key terms in criminal law are defined to help understand legal concepts and proceedings. Understanding criminal law terminology is important for those working in or learning about the criminal justice system.
The document describes three examples of potential criminal acts and asks to identify the type of mens rea, or guilty mind, shown in each based on case law. The first example involves a young girl being struck by airgun pellets fired from an apartment, where the appellant claimed they were just seeing how far they would go. The second involves a student accidentally pouring acid from a boiling tube into a hand dryer, injuring another student. The third involves a woman intentionally driving her car into her cheating lover, seriously injuring him.
This document provides a quiz testing knowledge of who can serve on a jury according to UK law. It lists 10 potential jurors and asks the reader to state whether each could serve, providing brief reasons. Those who could serve include a retired company director, a midwife, and a housewife. Those who could not serve include a practising barrister due to a conflict of interest, a 17-year-old due to being underage, a convicted bank robber due to having a criminal record, a law student who has an exam conflict, and someone recently fined for shoplifting due to having a criminal record.
The document describes three scenarios involving wills and asks whether each will would be considered valid based on legal requirements for wills. The first scenario involves a will written on the back of a cheque book signed by two witnesses. The second scenario involves a will written by a friend for a disabled person and witnessed by two underage witnesses. The third scenario describes a will made by a minor sailor and witnessed by one person.
This document provides the marking scheme for the January 2011 GCE LAW examination in England and Wales. It includes marking criteria and guidelines for 6 different law options that were assessed. For each question, it identifies the assessment objectives being tested, such as knowledge of the law (AO1) and skills in legal argument and reasoning (AO2). Sample answers are also provided to illustrate how different levels of response would be marked. The marking scheme aims to ensure examiners apply criteria consistently across all student scripts.
The document discusses the law around involuntary manslaughter in England and assesses if the law is muddled and unjust. It outlines the different types of involuntary manslaughter including gross negligence, unlawful act manslaughter, and subjective reckless manslaughter. It analyzes cases that illustrate inconsistencies and unjust outcomes. While the law commission proposed reforms, the conclusion is that the current law is adequate and changing it further may only add more confusion.
The document discusses the aims of sentencing in the UK criminal justice system. When judges pass sentences, they must decide on the appropriate sentence and what they hope to achieve with it. The main aims of sentencing are punishment, deterrence, rehabilitation, protection of the public, reparation, and denunciation. The document provides examples of cases involving a teenager stealing during riots, iPhone robbers convicted of murder, and a rugby star sentenced for grievous bodily harm to illustrate how judges determine sentences based on the aims.
This document outlines the qualifications and training required to become a solicitor or barrister in the UK legal system. It discusses the academic and vocational stages of training, including obtaining a law degree, completing the Legal Practice Course for solicitors or Bar Professional Training Course for barristers, and undertaking a training contract or pupillage. The duties of solicitors, who work in private practice, and barristers, who work as advocates in courts, are also summarized. Finally, the document questions whether the legal profession achieves equality, as women and ethnic minorities remain underrepresented.
The document discusses various influences on law reform in the UK, including the Law Commission, Royal Commissions, public inquiries, the media, pressure groups, manifesto promises, and European Union law. It provides details on the role and purpose of the Law Commission and Royal Commissions in examining existing laws and advocating for legal changes. Examples are given of public inquiries that led to reforms, such as the Taylor Report after Hillsborough and the Cullen Report after Dunblane.
This document provides instructions for a "Legal Aid Bingo" game where players choose 9 of 15 legal terms to write in a bingo card. The game leader will then randomly select definitions for those terms, with the goal of players getting a full bingo line or full house by matching definitions to their chosen terms. Some of the legal terms listed include things like income based job seekers allowance, legal services commission, access to justice act 1999, and courts and legal services act 1990.
This document defines and explains the legal definitions of assault and battery in UK law. Assault is defined as intentionally or recklessly causing another to apprehend immediate unlawful violence. Battery is defined as the unlawful application of force to another. Both assault and battery require intent or recklessness, and do not require hostile conduct as long as the force or threat of force was unlawful.
This document discusses the exceptions to the general principle in criminal law that an omission (failure to act) does not constitute an actus reus. It outlines six exceptions where an omission can be considered a criminal offense: 1) statutory duty, 2) contractual duty, 3) voluntary assumption of responsibility, 4) avert a danger of your own making, 5) public duty, and 6) special relationship. It provides examples of cases that fall under each exception and discusses potential confusions between some of the exceptions, such as contractual versus public duty, and voluntary assumption versus special relationship. It also addresses issues that can arise in medical cases regarding omissions.
The document discusses the small claims procedure in the UK legal system. It was introduced in 1973 to provide a quick, simple and cheap way to make a claim in court for amounts under £5000. Key aspects of the small claims procedure include individuals bringing their own cases to reduce costs, the use of lay representatives or district judges who are trained to handle such cases, and the lack of awarding legal costs to the winner which discourages lawyers. The document outlines advantages like low costs and speed, as well as disadvantages such as potential unfairness if one party has a lawyer and difficulties collecting awarded money.
The county courts are located in major towns across England and Wales, with around 230 total. They have jurisdiction over a variety of civil cases involving contracts, torts, recovery of land, partnerships, trusts, inheritance, divorce, bankruptcy, and discrimination. Around 2 million new cases are filed in county courts each year, though most are settled out of court without going to trial. Cases are heard by circuit judges or district judges, and in some limited cases may involve a jury.
This document discusses several rules of language that can help judges interpret the intentions of Parliament when analyzing statutory language, including:
- The ejusdem generis rule, which states that if a list is followed by a general term, the general term refers to items of the same type as in the list.
- The expressio rule, which provides that if a list is "closed" with no general term, the statute only applies to the items in the list.
- The noscitur a sociis rule, which means a word is known by the company it keeps, and so surrounding words can provide context to the meaning of a term.
The document outlines the different qualifications, training, and roles of solicitors and barristers in the UK legal system. Solicitors usually deal directly with clients, while barristers specialize in advocacy work and represent clients in court. The training process for both careers involves obtaining a law degree or other qualifications, completing vocational courses, and undertaking practical training periods like the training contract or pupillage.
This document contains 12 multiple choice questions about legal cases related to criminal defenses. Each question includes the answer and a citation to a legal authority or case that provides context and justification for the answer. The cases cover topics like intoxication as a defense, involuntary intoxication, automatism, insanity, self defense, and epilepsy as a defense.
The document provides an overview of the legislative process in the UK Parliament. It explains that a bill first begins as an idea in a green paper before being drafted and introduced in Parliament. It then goes through several stages of debate and amendment in both the House of Commons and House of Lords before receiving royal assent to become law. The advantages of the system include allowing mistakes to be identified and addressed through multiple reviews and edits. However, the process can also become confusing due complex amendments and potential for bias in specialized committees.
This document summarizes the key elements of the offence of criminal damage under the Criminal Damage Act 1971. It discusses:
1) The three main types of criminal damage offenses - section 1(1) criminal damage, section 1(2) criminal damage with intent to endanger life, and section 1(3) arson.
2) The actus reus and mens rea requirements for a section 1(1) criminal damage offense. It also discusses what constitutes damage and property belonging to another.
3) Available defenses to criminal damage including lawful excuse and the defendant's honest belief. It provides case examples analyzing the defenses.
Jack takes his bike to a garage for repairs and is told to return the next day to collect it. However, Jack returns that night and takes his bike, which would be considered theft as the garage had possession and control of the bike.
The mechanic repairs Jack's bike but cannot understand Jack when he returns to pay due to a language barrier. Jack opens his wallet and the mechanic takes too much money. While the mechanic had a right to be paid for the repairs, taking more money than owed without Jack's consent would constitute appropriation, similar to the Lawrence case.
Magistrates courts handle less serious criminal cases in England and Wales. Magistrates, who can be qualified lawyers or laypeople, oversee summary cases and some either-way offenses. They deal with bail applications, youth cases, and issues related to council tax, protection orders, and child welfare. Magistrates also determine if a case should be sent to the Crown Court for more serious offenses. Their trials involve presenting evidence, witness testimony, and determining guilt or innocence based on the burden of proof.
There are around 90 court centers throughout England and Wales organized into three tiers. The first tier incorporates the High Court and Crown Court and can try all indictment cases. The second tier is Crown Court only and can also try all indictment cases. The third tier only has Circuit Judges and Recorders, so it cannot deal with the most serious cases due to the lack of a High Court judge.
Young offenders between the ages of 10-17 are dealt with in youth court, a branch of Magistrates' court, unless their crime is exceptionally serious like rape, murder or manslaughter, in which case they can be tried in Crown Court. Youth court proceedings are private, involve specially trained magistrates under age 65, and require one male and one female magistrate, with parents present for under 16s. The process is generally less formal than adult criminal court.