My criminal judgment is on the warning list, what does that mean?
If you are facing criminal charges, your case will be heard in the Magistrates’ Court or in the Crown Court. If your case is heard only in Magistrates Court, your case will usually be dealt with fairly quickly. If he is found guilty or if he pleads guilty, magistrates will often sentence him shortly after he pleads guilty or after the conclusion of his trial. Sometimes, if magistrates feel that their sentencing powers are too limited, they will refer a case to the Crown Court for judgment. In general, the idea in the Magistrates is that cases are dealt with quickly and efficiently.
If you face a more serious charge, your case will be heard in the Crown Court. In Crown Court, you can expect your case to progress at a much slower rate than in Magistrates’ Court. Although there is currently a strong trend for cases to move much faster in Crown Court, with the introduction of the early plea scheme, generally speaking, your case will take longer to conclude in Crown Court than it will in the Crown Court. the Court of Magistrates.
If you plead not guilty, the court will set your case for trial. This will mean that witnesses will have to appear in court, including police officers, experts and defense witnesses.
The Court will list your case for an “attachment” or list your trial for a “warning list.”
An accessory is basically what it sounds like: You will have a set day to appear in court, and your trial will begin on that day. The court will usually give an estimate of how long they think your trial will take, for simple cases this can be 1-2 days; for complex cases, trials can last many months. The reason courts require estimates of trial durations is that there is great pressure on the Crown Court system to manage cases as efficiently as possible so as not to allow time to be wasted (no costs).
If the court does not settle, your case will go on a “warning list.” This means that your case will start any day during that notice period. Most of the time, a court will grant a “warning period” of two or three weeks. If your case does not start during this warning period, your case will enter another warning period, usually a few months later. In some courts, they will give a case they have determined to be suitable for the warning list three separate warning list periods before giving it a fixed hearing date; this can mean that some cases last many months before reaching trial.
Courts often place defendants who are on bail on the warning list and defendants who are in custody (prison) are given a trial date. This is because there are custody terms that courts must observe with respect to pretrial detention and therefore strive to conclude custody cases before the custody terms expire.
If your case is on the warning list and you are anxious to have your case proceed as soon as possible, perhaps because you are concerned that your defense witnesses will not be available at a later date, then your criminal defense attorney should petition the Court let him judge and get your trial on a fixed date instead of being left with the uncertainty of the caveat list.