English Law and Terminology. JUSTINE K. COLLINS The English Court System. The old structure. The new structure Introduction. • The English Court system is two-tiered- with one branch for civil cases and one for criminal cases. • The English Court structure is complicated and – in places – confusing, because it has developed over 1,000 years rather than being designed from scratch. • There is no branch for administrative law and no constitutional court. • Civil and criminal jurisdictions are not exclusive to certain courts as most courts deal with both types of law. • The courts structure covers England and Wales; the tribunals system covers England, Wales, and in some cases Northern Ireland and Scotland. • The present court system was established by the Judicature Acts of 1873-75. The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 is the most recent legislation regarding the court system and it established the Supreme Court which succeeded the House of Lords. The Breakdown- Magistrates Court. Magistrates’ Courts have both civil & criminal jurisdiction. Civil matters- deal largely with specific debt recovery- utility bills, domestic and matrimonial matters. Criminal matters- deal with minor offences or petty crimes. The court is of particular practical importance here as many criminal cases start and end here (summary trial). Magistrates can impose fines and limited imprisonment sentences. Cases are typically heard by a panel of 3 unpaid lay magistrates. Most complicated or sensitive cases are presided over by a district judge. Magistrates Court cont. Magistrates are appointed by the Lord Chancellor on advice of a local committee (Lay magistrates) or on via an application process (Stipendiary magistrates). Lay magistrates are assisted by Clerks and can act on their advice or not- its their discretion. Magistrates generally oversees proceedings & makes a decision based on evidence presented and hands down suitable sentence. Where however they cannot make a decision on evidence only they hold a committal hearing for indictable offences. The also preside over bail hearings. Appeals from the magistrates’ court goes to the High Court for civil matters and to the Crown Court & a Divisional Court of the High Court for criminal matters. Magistrates Court cont. Committal Hearings: are held in Magistrates’ Courts prior to a criminal case going to trial in a Crown Court or the Supreme Court. The aim of a committal hearing is to: 1. Determine whether a prima facie (on first sight) case exists, that is whether the evidence is of sufficient weight to support a conviction by a jury at trial. 2. Clarify the issues prior to attending trial and thereby avoid taking a matter to trial when the evidence is weak, saving the time and resources of higher courts. 3. Allow an early guilty plea, which avoids the time and cost of a trial. 4. Inform the defendant of all the evidence against them, putting them on equal footing with the prosecution and allowing them to best prepare their case. Family Courts. The Family Court was established in April 2014 when The Family Court comes under the judicial leadership the relevant sections of the Courts and Crime Act of Designated Family Judges (DFJs). The Court is 2013 came into force. divided into some 42 DFJ areas. Each DFJ area will have a Designated Family Centre which will be the It has a national jurisdiction (the whole country) and principal Family Court location for each DFJ area. brought all levels of family judiciary to sit together in the same court for the first time – magistrates, District This is the location where all family applications issued Judges, District Judges (Magistrates Court), Circuit in that DFJ area will be sent to for initial consideration Judges and High Court Judges. and allocation. A typical DFJ area will have several locations where the Family Court sits but responsibility Family cases are no longer heard in the County Court for listing, allocation and judicial deployment rests or the Family Proceedings Court (which was with the DFJ and each DFJ area has a single listing abolished). One of the principal advantages of the system. new Court is that time and resources are not wasted in transferring cases between different courts which Proceedings issued in the Family Court are was a feature of the previous structure. considered by an allocation team of a legal adviser and a District Judge who allocate cases to the appropriate level of judge according to their type and complexity. County Courts. County Courts in their current state were County courts are presided over by circuit established in 1846. judges and are assisted by district judges. These Courts are first instance for civil matters District judges have limited judicial authority in contract, torts, landlord & tenant, probate and therefore hear small claims cases, they and insolvency. also supervise the administration of the courts. They are geographically limited in jurisdiction Circuits judges hear the fast track or multi- to local areas. The country is divided into track cases. districts and grouped into circuits. Each circuit judge may sit in several county This means the case must be connected to courts and if need be will move between the area (county)in which the county court is, circuits. for the court to preside on the matter. Appeal from the County court goes to the Hence, a case would either be brought to the Court of Appeal, with the exception of place of residence or place of business of the bankruptcy cases which will go to the defendant or in the district where the event Divisional Court of the High Court. which led to the action occurred. Crown Court. It is not as plentiful as magistrates or county courts, in fact there is only one Crown Court. It can sit at anytime, anywhere in the country and sometimes in several different places simultaneously. There are six court circuits: south-eastern (with London as the administrative centre); Wales and Chester (with Cardiff as the centre): western (Bristol); midland and Oxford (Birmingham); north-eastern (Leeds); and northern (Manchester). When in London it retains its old name of Central Criminal Court and is informally known as the Old Bailey due to the street on which it is located (Bailey Street). It has an exclusive criminal jurisdiction. It deals with all criminal cases not heard by the magistrates court- hence those more serious in nature. It can also hear appeals from the magistrates courts. Where a defendant pleads not guilty, he/she is tried before a judge and a jury of 12 lay persons of the public. Crown Court cont. Crown Court judges are High Court judges, The Crown Court hears trials on indictment, as circuit judges and Recorders- who are well as sentencings and appeals from the experienced solicitors & barristers acting as magistrates’ courts. part time judges. Crown Court appeals can go to both the The offences that the Crown Court cover are Divisional Court of the High Court and the classed into four categories- depending on Court of Appeal (Criminal Division). their nature and gravity. Where a defendant is acquitted-found not Hence, the more serious the offence, most guilty- the Attorney General can refer the likely the High Court judges will deal with such case to the Court of Appeal- on any point of whereas less serious offence are brought law- which he deems needs full discussion- before circuit judges and recorders. Attorney- General’s Reference. The Court of Appeal in turn can refer the case to the Supreme Court. The defendant’s acquittal is not affected by decision of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court. High Court of Justice. Similar to the Crown Court, the High Court is a single court which can sit anywhere in England or Wales. It is made up of three divisions- Queen’s bench Division, Chancery Division and Family Division. The High Court is staffed by the High Court of puisne judges who are divided between the three divisions. This court hears the more serious and complex civil and family cases at first instance. All divisions of the High Court can appeal to the Court of Appeal. However, in certain circumstances an appeal can be made directly to the Supreme Court-leapfrog procedure. Criminal cases go directly to the Supreme Court on appeal. The Queen’s Bench Division. The QBD is the largest of the three divisions and is headed by its President- Lord Chief Justice. It mainly handles cases of 1st instance for civil matters mostly in tort and contract laws. It has the most varied jurisdiction. Included within it are a number of specialist courts: the Admiralty Court, Commercial Court & Technology, Mercantile and Construction Courts are all part of QBD. It can hear appeals in civil matters from certain tribunals but most appeals are criminal and come from the magistrates’& Crown Courts. This jurisdiction is the entire criminal jurisdiction of the High Court and it is appellate only. The Divisional Court deals with appeals, and two or three judges preside in this division. Court has prerogative orders- Supervisory jurisdiction- which gives it the power to control inferior courts, tribunals and other public bodies. Specialist Courts of the QBD. The Admiralty Court is the oldest of all the Division’s specialist The Technology and Construction Court covers areas including courts and deals principally with the legal consequences of traditional building cases, adjudication enforcement, collisions at sea, salvage, and damage to cargoes. arbitration and professional negligence claims, and engineering and Information Technology disputes. In addition The Commercial Court has a wide jurisdiction over banking and to London, the work of the Technology and Construction Court international credit, insurance, commodities and trade matters; is carried out in eleven regional centres around the country. the judges of this court can arbitrate in commercial disputes.