Text a Judicial Institutions

In all legal systems there are institutions for creating, modifying, abolishing and applying the law. Usually these take the form of a hierarchy of courts. The role of each court and its capacity to make decisions is strictly defined in relation to other courts. There are two main reasons for having a variety of courts. One is that a particular court can specialize in particular kinds of legal actions – for example, family courts and juvenile courts. The other is so that a person who feels his case was not fairly treated in a lower court can appeal to a higher court for reassessment (although the right of appeal usually depends upon the appellant being able to show certain reasons for his dissatisfaction). The decisions of a higher court are binding upon lower courts. At the top of the hierarchy is a supreme lawmaking body, but the process of taking an action from a lower court to the highest court may be very time-consuming and costly.

Text b Classification of the English Courts

There are, within the English legal system, a large number of courts of varying degrees of standing and jurisdiction. There are various ways of classifying courts. Thus it is possible to classify courts according to their functions. The obvious classification in this respect would be into courts of civil and courts of criminal jurisdiction. This classification is not, however, a valid one since, although certain courts do exercise a purely civil or criminal jurisdiction, most English courts hear both civil and criminal cases. Thus the House of Lords, Court of Appeal, High Court and magistrates' courts exercise jurisdiction in both civil and criminal matters. A second classification would be into courts of original and courts of appellate jurisdiction.

The court in which a case is first heard is called the court of first instance (the court of original jurisdiction). In almost all cases it is possible to appeal to a higher court for reconsideration of the decision of the original court. These courts are called appellate courts.

Nor is this division of general application. Although certain courts, such as the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords, exercise a purely appellate jurisdiction, while other courts, such as magistrates' courts, have no appellate jurisdiction, many courts, notably the High Court and the Crown Court, exercise both original and appellate jurisdiction.

The Court of Justice of the European Communities (the European Court) is, of course, unique since, although not an English court, it exercises jurisdiction within the English legal system and the position of this Court within the system must be considered.

Although there is no clear distinction between the civil and criminal courts or courts of first instance and appellate courts, it is usual to deal with the individual courts under those headings.

Text c The Hierarchy of the Courts

In the English legal system some courts have more authority than others.

The following diagram provides an outline of the hierarchy of the English court system.

HOUSE OF LORDS

COURT OF APPEAL

Civil Division

Criminal Division

HIGH COURT

Queen’s Bench Division

Family division

Chancery Division

CROWN

COURT

COUNTY COURT

MAGISTRATES’ COURT

(MAGISTRATES’ COURT)

In general, the division between civil and criminal law is reflected in this system. The Crown Courts, for example, deal exclusively with criminal matters, the County Courts, with civil. However, the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court considers appeals from lower criminal courts, as well as civil matters, and the Magistrates’ Courts, while mostly concerned with criminal cases, also deal with some civil matters. The highest court, the House of Lords, deals with all matters (including appeals from Scottish and Northern Irish courts).

The current arrangement of the system of the English courts is based on its historical development. At the moment the court structure in England comprises:

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.

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 at all under English law. Juveniles (those under seventeen) are dealt with in 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.