English Courts Today

The current arrangement of the system of justice in England and Wales is based on its historical development. At the moment the court structure in England and Wales comprises the following elements:

> the House of Lords (the Appellate Committee)

> the Supreme Court consisting of:

• the Court of Appeal

• the High Court

• the Crown Court

> County Courts

> Magistrates' Courts

A certain number of cases may also be referred to the European Court

of Justice, which has jurisdiction on matters of European Community law.

The House of Lords is at the top of the structure. Lords of Appeal in Ordinary commonly known as the Law Lords, each of them being a full member of the House and a life peer, perform their Judicial functions sitting as the House itself or more commonly hearing appeals as a Committee of the House known as the Appellate Committee. Before an appeal may be lodged it is necessary that the permission of the lower court or of the House itself be granted. Thus the House of Lords is the final point of appeal. The House of Lords hears appeals from the Court of Appeal and in excepţ ional circumstances from the High Court. Apart from England and Wales it may also hear appeals from Northern Ireland and in civil cases from Scotland.

The role of the House of Lords in the Judicial process originated from the curia regis, the Royal Council of English medieval monarchs. The council which consisted of the distinguished officers of state and the judges gave advice to the King about matters of state and justice.

The Law Lords may also sit as the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council to hear appeals from those Commonwealth countries whose legal systems are still linked to the United Kingdom.

The Supreme Court is not a separate entity. It comprises the Court of Appeal, High Court of Justice and the Crown Court and only exists as a combination of the three.

The Court of Appeal sits in London at the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ) in the Ş trand and consists of the Civil Division which hears appeals from the High Court and from the County Courts and the Criminal Division which hears appeals from the Crown Court. The Court of Appeal has appellate jurisdiction only and is composed of Lord Justices of Appeal together with a number of ex officio members.

Cases involving points of law may be further referred by either of the Divisions to the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords. On some occasions where an important point of law is involved appeals may go direct to the House of Lords from either the High Court or the Crown Court.

The High Court of Justice deals with important civil disputes (i.e. cases where large sums of money or other important issues are involved). There are three Divisions of the High Court:

The Queen's Bench Division presided over by the Lord Chief Justice deals with actions for damages arising from torts, breaches of contract and libel. The Court also hears disputes arising from trade and commerce (the Commercial Court) as well as from shipping disputes (the Admiralty Court). Both the Commercial Court and the Admiralty Court have been created as part of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice. The Administrative Court in the Queen's Bench Division deals with a variety of judicial review matters.

The Family Division headed by the President deals with matrimonial and family matters, including issues relating to children, wardship and adoption applications, divorce. It also deals with non-contentious probate, i.e. cases concerned with wills where there is no dispute and, the distribution of estates under the intestacy laws when no will has been made.

The Chancery Division presided over by the Vice-Chancellor has jurisdiction over a wide range of issues, including land matters, trusts, contentious probate, company, partnership and bankruptcy matters as well as intellectual property disputes.

The Family and Chancery Divisions may sit with a High Court judge alone as a Division of the High Court, or with two or more judges as a Divisional Court. The distinction is based on the jurisdiction. When the Divisions of the High Court exercise a supervisory function over lower courts acting as an appellate court they sit as Divisional Courts.

The Crown Court deals with all those criminal cases which the Magistrates are not empowered to deal with. Practically all its work is concerned with cases committed for trial or sentence by the Magistrates or with appeals from their decisions. Although there are 78 centres exercising functions of the Crown Court across England and Wales there is only one Crown Court.

The County Courts, in their present form, were introduced in 1846 by an Act of Parliament. They were intended to provide a means of recovering small debts and to give, in a limited range of cases, similar remedies to those obtained in the High Court. This has remained their main function but they now have jurisdiction to hear a broad spectrum of civil cases, including, within specified limits, virtually all those issues which are covered by the three Divisions of the High Court. An exception is actions founded on defamation, i.e. libel and slander. Applications relating to adoption of children and actions for the possession of property are examples of matters which may be dealt with by the County Courts. In fact about 90 per cent of all civil proceedings are commenced and concluded in these courts.

Generally the County Courts and the High Court have concurrent jurisdiction and a litigant may seek redress from either of the courts, depending, though, on the complexity of the case and the amount of damages claimed. Claims under £ 50, 000 are likely to be dealt with by the County Courts, and those over £ 50, 000 by the High Court.

Each County Court has its own district. Some of the courts' powers are exercisable only within their district, while others are not subject to territorial limitations. Certain designated County Courts have jurisdiction to deal with divorce and other family matters, insolvency and admiralty matters.

The Magistrates' Courts deal with minor family matters, some forms of civil debt as well as minor criminal offence that can be tried either way where the defendant has elected to be tried summarily. The magistrates have limited sentencing powers. Where they are of the opinion that the offence deserves a more severe sentence, the magistrates can commit the offender for sentencing at the Crown Court. The magistrates' court usually sits as a bench of three lay magistrates with a legally qualified clerk to advise them on points of law. Apart from lay magistrates there are also professional magistrates or stipendiaries. A stipendiary magistrate sits alone.

 

Ex. 4. Match the following English expressions with their Russian equivalents:

 

1) shipping disputes 2) wardship and adoption applications 3) non-contentious probate 4) intestacy laws 5) contentious probate 6) actions for the possession of property 7) concurrent jurisdiction 8) civil debt 9) stipendiary magistrate 10) to try the case summarily

а) гражданско-правовая задолженность b) дела о наследовании по завещанию, в которых имеет место спор между сторонами с) дела о наследовании по завещанию, в которых отсутствует спор между сторонами d) заявления об установлении опеки / попечительства, об усыновлении е) иски, связанные с защитой права владения имуществом f) магистрат или мировой судья-профессионал g) законодательство, регулирующее наследование при отсутствии завещания (наследование по закону) h) рассмотреть дело в порядке упрощенного производства i) совпадающая юрисдикция j) споры, связанные с морской перевозкой грузов

 

Ex. 5. Find in the text above the English equivalents for the following key -words and expressions:

1. апелляционная юрисдикция

2. иск о возмещении убытков

3. гражданский иск

4. усыновление детей

5. полномочия в отношении назначения наказания

6. магистрат или мировой судья (непрофессионал)

7. рядовой судья Высокого суда правосудия

8. направить дело на рассмотрение в суд

9. исполнять судебные функции

10. рассматривать апелляции

11. подать апелляцию

12. рассматривать гражданские споры

13. составить завещание

14. взыскать долг

15. требовать возмещения ущерба

 

Ex. 6. Consult a legal dictionary and explain the meaning the following legal terms:

r tort r breach of contract r libel r defamation r slander r damages

r will r trust r bankruptcy r intellectual property r insolvency r divorce