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.

Although this court has the same name as the second chamber in Parliament it is a separate body whose members are judges. These judges, known as Law Lords, are also members of the House of Lords in its legislative capacity but, by convention, do not take part in politically controversial debates.

Law Lords 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.

The House of Lords is the highest appeal court in the English legal system.

It hears appeals from the Court of Appeal and in exceptional circumstances from the High Court. Its decisions are binding on all other courts. Only the government can overturn a decision of the House of Lords and then, only by passing an Act of Parliament.

 

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 is below the House of Lords in the hierarchy. It is bound by the decisions of the House of Lords and its decisions are binding on all lower courts. The Court of Appeal 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 court below the Court of Appeal is the High Court of Justice. It is bound to follow the decisions of the House of Lords and the Court of Appeal. The High Court of Justice deals with the more important civil disputes (i.e. those in which large sums of money or other important issues are at stake). 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, which means cases concerned with wills where there is no dispute and, where no will has been made, the distribution of estates under the intestacy laws.

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 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, came into existence in 1846 as a result of 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 deal with a broad spectrum of civil proceedings, including, within specified limits, virtually all those matters 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 offences 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.

Children under ten cannot stand trial atall under English law. Juveniles (those under seventeen) are dealt within special Magistrates’ Courts known as Juvenile Courts.

In addition to the courts mentioned above, there are numerous special courts which have been established to make decisions in particular types of dispute. For example, special industrial tribunals deal with disputes, over contracts and sexual discrimination in employment matters.