SCHEME The Judicial System Of Great Britain
The highest judicial organ in the UK and the final appellate tribunal
The Supreme Court of Judicature (The Court of Appeal + the Crown Court + the High Court)
An intermediate appellate tribunal and the trial court for serious civil and criminal cases
The courts of first instance for minor criminal and civil cases
TOPIC Criminal Courts
Magistrates’ Courts. The Magistrates’ Courts try the cases of minor importance. Magistrates’ Courts may impose a fine up to a general limit of 5000£ or 12 months’ imprisonment.
With more serious cases the magistrates can decide only to send them for trial in a Crown Court.
A Magistrates’ Court consists of 3 Justices of the Peace (JPs). The JPs are ordinary but worthy citizens who have been appointed to their positions by the Lord Chancellor on the advice of local committees. There are more than 28000 JPs in England; each of them works in the courts on about 30 to 50 days a year. JPs receive no payment for their work.
Some of the courts in London and in ten other towns have stipendiary magistrates, who a qualified lawyers, work full time and are paid salaries.
Crown Courts. When a criminal case is not dealt with finally in a Magistrates’ Court, it goes for trial in a Crown Court. Crown Courts try serious cases such as murder, rape, arson, armed robbery, fraud, and so on. The court is presided over by a judge, but the decision on guilt or innocence is made by a jury of twelve citizens. The judge’s functions are:
1. to see that the trial is properly conducted;
2. to give guidance to the jury before asking it for its verdict;
3. if the jury finds the accused guilty, to decide upon the penalty and pronounce a sentence.
For this last decision the judge is helped by two JPs who have been sitting beside him throughout the proceedings.
Judges are either practising or former barristers who all are qualified, professional and experienced lawyers and are paid for their work.
In a Crown Court, a person who is accused of crime, when he is brought into the dock, is asked by the clerk if he is guilty or not guilty. If he says that he is not guilty, he must be tried in order to establish whether he is in fact guilty or not. For this purpose a jury has to be appointed. From the group of 30 local citizens who have been ordered to be ready to serve as members of the jury, twelve will be called out to be the jury for the particular case.
The Crown Courts act also as the appeal courts against both conviction and sentences by magistrates. When the appeal is against conviction, a judge re-hears all the evidence that witnesses have already given in the lower court, but there is no jury.
Court of Appeal. The accused may appeal to the Criminal Division of Court of Appeal against conviction, or it may reduce or increase a sentence. The Court of Appeal does not hear witnesses other than in exceptional circumstances.
House of Lords. The highest court in the country is the House of Lords. It is the final court of appeal in criminal cases. The judges of the House of Lords are the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (Law Lords). They are ten in number. They form a quorum when at least three of them are present. Normally. Five of them attend a meeting. The president of the House of Lords as a court is the Lord Chancellor.
TOPIC Civil Courts
County courts. County courts are the courts of first instance for minor civil cases.
More than 500 county courts are grouped into 50 circuits with at least one judge for each such circuit. The judges called “circuit judges” and appointed by the Crown on the advice of the Lord Chancellor. They must be barristers with at least seven years of experience. The jurisdiction of county courts is unlimited. The circuit judges try the cases alone. County court judges must retire at the age of 72.
The High Court of Justice. The High Court of Justice is above the county courts. It has three division: the Chancery Division, the Family Division and the Queen’s Bench Division.
The Chancery Division. The Chancery Division consists of the Lord Chancellor and ten judges, and deals with questions of company law, bankruptcy, trusts, the administration of the estates of people, who have died, tax and some other matters affecting finance and property.
The Family Division. The Family Division deals with divorce and questions arising out of wills as well as questions affecting children (adoption, or guardianship).
There are about 30 judges in the Chancery and Family Divisions of the High Court of Justice, who deal only with civil cases, almost all in London.
The Queen’s Bench Division. The Queen’s Bench Division consists of the Lord Chief Justice and about fifty other judges. The High Court judges appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor, and retire at age 75. The Queen’s Bench Division with the widest jurisdiction is both the main civil court for disputes involving more than 5000£. It also deals with suits for libel. The division also takes appeals from lower courts. The Queen’s Bench Division includes a Commercial Court that specialises in large commercial disputes, and Admiralty Court for shipping cases.
The High Court judges try civil cases alone, except for a few cases like defamation, false imprisonment or fraud. This cases there is always a jury.
The Court of Appeal. The intermediate appellate tribunal is the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal has two divisions – Civil and Criminal.
The Civil Division. The Civil Division hears appeals from the High Court as well as from county courts and a few more specialised courts. They appeal the extremely important cases. In the Civil Division senior Lord Justice (The Master of the Rolls) normally presides over the other two Lords Justices. The presentation before the court is oral. The decisions are based on documents supplemented by the arguments of barristers. Appeals against decisions of the Court of Appeal can be lodged with the House of Lords.
House of Lords. The highest court in the country is the House of Lords. It is the biggest court of appeal in civil matters for the whole of the UK. The judges of the House of Lords are the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (Law Lords). There are ten in number. They form a quorum when at least three of them are present. The president of the House of Lords as a court is the Lord Chancellor. Five Law Lords normally deal with any particular case. They sit in a small room in Westminster Palace. The Lords express their opinion on the case and vote at hand.
TOPIC Some Other Courts
A number of other, more specialised, courts have been set up to deal with particular areas of the law or perform special functions.
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Its jurisdiction is now confined to hearing appeals from the remaining colonies, and from those former British territories which have chosen to retain it as their final appeal court. The judges of the Privy Council are predominantly the same Law Lords.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal. It was set up following the great increase in recent years of disputes arising from employment, especially involving unfair dismissal or discrimination. The court hears appeals from industrial tribunals. Every case is heard by a High Court judge and two lay members chosen for their knowledge and experience of industrial relations: trade union officials, for instance, and representatives of employers’ organisations.
The Restrictive Practices Court. It has various powers to stop or control restrictive or monopolistic practices in the supply of goods and services – for example, agreements between ostensibly competitive companies to charge a minimum price for their products, against the interests of the consumer.
Coroners’ Courts. Coroners, who must be qualified lawyers or doctors, have a duty to hold public inquests into any violent, unnatural or suspicious death, or in the case of a person dying suddenly without any obvious cause, or in prison or in police custody. Coroners inquests are not trials, but witnesses are called, and there is often a jury who decide on the manner of death, or return an open verdict.
Tribunals. The sixty or so tribunals cover a wide range of subjects, from tax to mental health. Some of the most important and widely used are the industrial tribunals, where workers can claim compensation for unfair dismissal; the supplementary benefit appeals tribunal; rent tribunal; and the immigration appeals tribunal.