How have the powers of the Magistrates changed and what does it mean?

The government has recently changed the Magistrates’ sentencing powers for a single either way offence to 12 months from 6 months. This change is set out in the Sentencing Act 2020 (Magistrates’ Court Sentencing Powers) (Amendment) Regulations 2024.

An either way offence for context is one which can be kept in the Magistrates or sent to the Crown Court for trial and/or sentencing. This depends on a number of factors such as the complexity and seriousness of the offence and the choice of the offender.

Magistrates are ordinary people who deal with less complex and serious cases. No legal background is necessary.

The main aim of this change is to ease the overbearing pressure on Crown Courts, which are meant to handle the most serious and complex cases. By allowing Magistrates to deal with slightly more serious offences, more cases can be resolved quickly and efficiently at a lower level. It is estimated this change will save about 2000 days in Crown Court time per year.

In theory, increasing sentencing powers will speed up justice, with fewer people waiting in prison for their Crown Court trial, and faster resolutions for less serious cases. But there are concerns this will instead increase prison populations at least in the short term while not addressing the underlying problem. That problem being prison overcrowding.  

It is also the case that the Magistrates’ court needs more resources and more Magistrates to be able to handle more cases. So, while this could be a positive change, the criminal justice system needs to evolve at other levels for this to be efficient. This change needs to be part of a wider reform.