Study guide
2.4 Sending for Trial & Committal for Sentence
UK Bar — Criminal Litigation, Evidence and Sentencing Exam
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1 Chapter 1: Introduction & BSB Assessment Overview
1.1 BSB Centralised Assessment Structure & Regulations 1.2 Overriding Objective & Court Structure 1.3 Classification of Offences, Court Jurisdiction & Funding
2 Chapter 2: Commencing Proceedings, Charges & Allocation
2.1 Commencing Proceedings & Police Station Procedure 2.2 First Hearing & Classification of Offences 2.3 Allocation and Mode of Trial 2.4 Sending for Trial & Committal for Sentence 2.5 Youth Court & Special Allocation Rules 2.6 Sentencing Powers of the Youth Court
3 Chapter 3: Bail, Remand & Case Management
3.1 Right to Bail & Statutory Exceptions 3.2 Bail Conditions, Breach & Appeals 3.3 Remands, Adjournments & Custody Time Limits 3.4 Case Management & Pre-Trial Hearings 3.5 Prosecution & Defence Disclosure
4 Chapter 4: Indictments & Preparation for Trial in the Crown Court
4.1 The Indictment: Form, Content, Time Limits & Specimen Counts 4.2 Joinder, Severance, Amendment & Voluntary Bills 4.3 Arraignment, Pleas & Change of Plea 4.4 PTPH, Applications to Dismiss & Offering No Evidence
5 Chapter 5: Criminal Evidence — General Principles & PACE Exclusions
5.1 Preliminary Evidential Matters: Relevance, Admissibility & Tribunals 5.2 Burden and Standard of Proof & Presumptions 5.3 Confession Evidence & Mandatory Exclusion 5.4 Discretionary Exclusion of Unfair Evidence 5.5 Inferences from Silence
6 Chapter 6: Special Evidentiary Rules — Hearsay, Character & Identification
6.1 Hearsay Evidence & The Four Gateways 6.2 Hearsay Safeguards, Multiple Hearsay & Procedure 6.3 Defendant Bad Character Evidence 6.4 Non-Defendant Bad Character & Co-Defendant Character 6.5 Good Character, Proof of Convictions & Bad Character Procedure 6.6 Visual Identification & Turnbull Guidelines
7 Chapter 7: Witnesses, Privilege & Opinion Evidence
7.1 Witness Competence, Compellability & Special Measures 7.2 Oaths, Affirmations & Compelling Witness Attendance 7.3 Examination in Chief: Leading Questions, Memory Refreshing & Hostile Witnesses 7.4 Cross-Examination, Previous Inconsistent Statements & Re-Examination 7.5 Opinion Evidence & Expert Witnesses 7.6 Privilege, Public Interest Immunity & Immunity
8 Chapter 8: Trial Procedure in the Magistrates' Court & Crown Court
8.1 Magistrates' Court Trial Procedure 8.2 Summary Trial: Pre-Trial Rulings, Absence & Abuse of Process 8.3 Crown Court Trial Procedure 8.4 Jury Trial: Absence, Unrepresented Defendants & Abuse of Process 8.5 Speeches, Summing Up & Verdicts
9 Chapter 9: Sentencing Framework & Guidelines
9.1 Sentencing Framework, Principles & Procedure 9.2 Seriousness, Guilty Plea Reduction, Aggravation & Mitigation 9.3 Sentencing Procedure: Newton Hearings, Reports & Goodyear Indications 9.4 Custodial Sentences, Suspension & Release 9.5 Mandatory & Minimum Custodial Sentences 9.6 Community Orders, Fines & Discharges 9.7 Ancillary Orders, Costs & Dangerous Offenders
10 Chapter 10: Appeals & Post-Trial Remedies
10.1 Appeals from the Magistrates' Court (Crown Court & High Court Case Stated) 10.2 Rectifying Mistakes, Case Stated & Judicial Review 10.3 Crown Court Appeals (Court of Appeal Criminal Division & Supreme Court) 10.4 CACD Procedure: Rectification, Leave, Renewal, Loss of Time & Fresh Evidence 10.5 Prosecution Appeals, Attorney General's References & the CCRC
2.4 Sending for Trial & Committal for Sentence
Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI
Indictable-only offences are sent forthwith to the Crown Court under section 51(1) CDA 1998, together with any related either-way or summary offence that satisfies the statutory test.
A linked summary offence sent under section 51(3) or (11) can only be dealt with in the Crown Court if the defendant pleads guilty to it; if the plea is not guilty the Crown Court has no power to try it.
When the Crown Court sentences for a linked summary offence it is confined to the sentencing powers of a magistrates' court.
The Sentencing Code contains several distinct committal-for-sentence powers in sections 14 to 20, and section 14 is the general power following summary trial or an indicated guilty plea to an either-way offence.
Where the committal is under section 20(2) or 20(4), section 23 cuts the Crown Court's sentencing powers down to those of the magistrates' court.
Last updated: August 2026
2.4 Sending for Trial & Committal for Sentence
Two entirely different mechanisms move a case from the magistrates' court to the Crown Court, and SBA questions punish candidates who blur them. Sending (s.51 Crime and Disorder Act 1998) happens before trial and is about jurisdiction to try. Committal for sentence (Sentencing Code, ss.14–20) happens after conviction and is about jurisdiction to punish. A defendant convicted in the magistrates' court is never "sent"; a defendant awaiting trial is never "committed for sentence".
1. Sending for trial: section 51 CDA 1998
Where an adult appears before a magistrates' court charged with an indictable-only offence, the court must send the defendant forthwith to the Crown Court for trial (s.51(1)). No plea is taken and no evidence is heard. The court's residual functions at that hearing are bail, legal aid, and reporting restrictions.
The section then sweeps in other matters so that a defendant is not tried twice:
Category Provision Test
Related either-way offence charged at the same time s.51(1)(b), s.51(3) The offence "appears to the court to be related" to the indictable-only offence — i.e. it could lawfully be joined in the same indictment
Related summary offence s.51(3)(b), s.51(11) It is punishable with imprisonment or disqualification from driving and appears to be related
Co-accused adult charged jointly or with a related either-way offence s.51(3), s.51(4) Sent on the same or a subsequent occasion
- Youth co-accused s.51(7) Sent only if it is necessary in the interests of justice to try them together
- Subsequent related charges s.51(4)–(6) May be sent at a later hearing
The court must serve a notice under s.51D specifying the offence or offences for which the defendant is sent and the place of trial.
The linked summary offence trap
A summary offence sent under s.51(3) or (11) travels to the Crown Court, but the Crown Court's power over it is severely limited (CDA 1998, Sch. 3, para. 6):
If the defendant is convicted on indictment , the Crown Court asks the defendant to plead to the summary offence.
If the defendant pleads guilty , the Crown Court may sentence — but only within the sentencing powers of a magistrates' court .
If the defendant pleads not guilty , the Crown Court has no power to try the summary offence. It ceases to be before the Crown Court and can only be dealt with in the magistrates' court.
If the defendant is acquitted on the indictment, the summary offence likewise cannot be tried in the Crown Court.
That is the single most examinable point in this topic: a linked summary offence is a sentencing passenger, not a trial passenger.
2. Committal for sentence
The Sentencing Code gathers a family of committal powers. The syllabus states expressly that knowledge is "limited to the fact that there are different provisions relating to different circumstances", so the examinable skill is recognising which situation you are in — not reciting the whole of ss.14 to 20.
Situation Power
Adult convicted of an either-way offence on summary trial, or who indicated a guilty plea at plea before venue, and the offence is so serious that the Crown Court should have the power to deal with it s.14
Youth convicted of certain offences on summary trial (including grave crimes and dangerous-offender cases) s.15 , s.16
Dangerous offender provisions engaged ss.18–19
Committal of other offences the court could otherwise sentence, alongside a "relevant offence" already being committed s.20(2) (relevant offence either way) and s.20(4) (relevant offence summary)
The crucial limit. Where an either-way offence is committed under s.20(2) or s.20(4) , section 23 confines the Crown Court to the sentencing powers of the magistrates' court for that offence. A committal under s.14, by contrast, unlocks the Crown Court's full powers for that offence, up to the statutory maximum.
Committal for sentence is not defeated by the magistrates having accepted jurisdiction at allocation. Accepting jurisdiction is a decision on venue made before the facts are proved; the power to commit survives conviction precisely because the facts may turn out worse than the papers suggested. But note the counterweight: since 18 November 2024 the magistrates can impose 12 months for a single either-way offence (Sentencing Code, s.224(1A)(b)), so committal is only appropriate where more than 12 months, or a Crown Court–only order, is realistically in play.
3. Practical sequencing
An SBA will often give you a defendant facing an indictable-only offence and an either-way offence and a summary offence. Work in this order:
Identify the indictable-only offence → must be sent under s.51(1).
Ask whether each other offence is related → either-way related offences are sent; summary offences are sent only if imprisonable or carrying disqualification.
If there is no indictable-only offence, the either-way offence goes through plea before venue and allocation in the ordinary way; a summary offence can only ride along under s.51(11) if the either-way offence is itself sent.
After conviction, ask whether the sentencing powers are adequate → if not, consider committal, and check whether s.23 caps the Crown Court.
Exam traps in this section
A not guilty plea to a linked summary offence in the Crown Court is fatal to Crown Court jurisdiction over that offence.
Committal under s.20(2)/(4) does not unlock full Crown Court powers — s.23 caps them.
A youth co-accused is not automatically sent with the adult: the test is whether it is necessary in the interests of justice to try them together.
Sending is not a merits filter. If the defence say the evidence is weak, the remedy is an application to dismiss in the Crown Court, not resistance to sending.