Generally speaking, the type of Court is dependent on a number of factors, the most prominent being the type of offence with which you are charged. The first oral hearing (in a court room before a ‘judge’) will always be in the Magistrates’ Court. It is at this stage that a decision is taken as to which court will deal with the rest of the proceedings. If the relevant offence is one which is likely to attract a sentence of more than 6 months, it will be transferred up to the Crown Court for trial (plea of Not Guilty) or sentence (either where there has been a plea of Guilty, or a trial has taken place in the Magistrates’ Court, you have been found guilty and the Magistrates are satisfied that the type of sentence that should be passed is more than 6 months’).