All criminal cases start in a magistrates’ court, and most cases finish there too. Magistrates’ courts deal with three types of criminal cases: summary offences, either way offences, and indictable only offences.

Crown Courts handle the most serious criminal cases, such as rape, murder and manslaughter. They also hear appeals against decisions made in magistrates’ courts and deal with any case a magistrate sends to the Crown Court for trial or for sentencing.

A youth court is a type of magistrates’ court for defendants aged between 10 and 17. Like a magistrates’ court, it is led by three magistrates or a district judge. Youth courts do not have juries, and they are less formal than an adult court.

The Royal Courts of Justice is a court building on the Strand in London that houses the High Court and Court of Appeal of England and Wales.