A concise journalists’ guide to the British legal system

Magistrates Court – This is the court in England and Wales where all criminal cases will start, almost 97% off all cases are dealt by the magistrate’s court. However they only deal with the so called minor cases, things that would be unlikely to make the headlines. However though, they are still an indispensable part of our justice system. They perform a fast and cheap service, and handle almost everything from burglary to driving under the influence.

The Magistrates, or justices of the peace as they are also known are appointed to serve until the age of 70, and they must sit between 26 and 35 half days a year and sometimes the occasional full day. A magistrate doesn’t necessarily have to be legally qualified, and most aren’t. There are about 29,000 of them, and they are all unsalaried. However there are about 60 qualified stipendiary magistrates, who receive a salary. When trying a case, a magistrate’s court will usually be composed of two, and no more than 7. As explained they will usually handle all the less serious offences, which cannot be tried by a jury. These are commonly known as summary offences. 

In court sitting in front of the magistrates, you will have the legal adviser. Who is formerly known as the court clerk. They will advise the magistrates on the law and are also empowered to conduct and early administrative review in open court dealing with legal aid and bail where a person appears for the first time on a summary or hybrid offence.

County Court – For most people, County Court is the first contact they will have with the civil law process in England and Wales. They are similar to the magistrates court in the fact that they deal with most of the civil cases. Such as those relating to family or property law, the way this court differs from the Magistrates court is because it fights crime in a different way, primarily with civil law. 

To the contrary the county courts don’t fit within county boundaries, the 230 county courts are scattered around the towns and cities that require their services. Cases that are carried out by a district judge generally involve, property cases up to £30,000, all personal injury claims less than £50,000, and bankruptcy matters. Also the County Court hosts a small claims court, where most minor civil matters can be resolved with an informal arbitration.

High Court – The High Court is a civil court and has the authority to hear any civil case in England and Wales. It can handle anything from divorce to litigation, the High Court is composed of three separate divisions, and these are, the Queen’s Bench Division, the Chancery Division, and the Family Division. The Queen’s Bench Division is headed by the Lord Chief Justice, and they have nearly 70 judges. It hears cases where the claimant is seeking damages above a certain amount. A judge will usually sit alone, but a jury may be employed to hear certain cases involving, fraud, libel, slander, malicious prosecution and false imprisonment.

The Chancery Division is headed by the Lord Chancellor and has roughly 17 judges. Disputes concerning insolvency, mortgages, copyright and patents, probate and intellectual property matters and trust property, are refserred to this court. The cases are heard by a single judge and juries are never used. The Family Division is headed by the President of the Family Division, and they have about 17 judges. They hear cases concerning access and custody of children, the nullity of marriage and any other matters concerning the family. It will consist of a single judge and never uses a jury. It also hears appeals from magistrates, when these concern family matters.

Supreme Court – The Supreme Court is the highest court in the UK, there are twelve Justices. Who maintain the highest standards set by the Appellate Committee, but they are explicitly separate from both Government and Parliament. The Court hears appeals points of law of the greatest public importance. This includes the whole of the UK in civil cases, and for England, Northern Ireland and Wales in criminal cases. 

The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal for all UK civil cases, and criminal cases in the above countries mentioned. They will hear appeals on arguable points of law of general public importance. They also concentrate on cases of the greatest public and constitutional importance. And they maintain and develop the role of the highest court in the UK as a leader in the common law world.

The Supreme Court hears appeals from several courts in each jurisdiction; In England Wales it is: The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division and The High Court. In Scotland it is The Court of session.

European Court of Human Rights – The European Court of Human Rights was set up under the convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms; it was drawn up within the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe is entirely separate from the European Union, and it comprises of 47 member states.

The European Court of Human Rights is a body of this council, and they are tasked with enforcing the European convention on Human Rights. It composes of a number of judges equal to that of the number of member states, but there is no restriction on the number of judges of the same nationality. The judges sit on the court in their own individual capacity and they don’t represent any state. 

Any state or individual claiming to be a victim in violation of the convention, have the right to lodge directly with the court an application alleging a breach by a contracting state of one of the conventions rights. Hearings are generally held in public, unless the chamber decides otherwise. Though this will only be in exceptional circumstances, the official language of the court are English and French, but application may be submitted in one of the other official languages of the member states. Once the application has been declared admissible, one of the courts languages must be used, unless the President of the chamber authorises the use of the language of the application. 

Tribunals – Outside of the main court system various tribunals hear a large number of cases each year. The advantage of this system is that specialised areas of law are dealt with by the specialists in each particular field. A tribunal has the same judicial power as the High Court. The tribunal will be carried out by a senior judge and usually two or more lay people, tribunals take the pressure away from the main courts and generally, cases are hear quickly and cheaply. If there is one criticism of tribunals, it’s that legal aid is not normally available, expect for tribunals such as mental health review.

Court Case

Today at Truro Magistrate’s courts Mr Holt, from Falmouth, already pleaded guilty to charges, and that coupled with his clear show of remorse allowed him to receive a much more lenient punishment.

On the 14^th of December, Mr Holt confronted a Martin Elliot because he found out he had an affair with his former partner, Miss Nix. Mr Holt started to verbally abuse Mr Elliot, saying how he was going to hurt him by breaking his fingers.

Mr Holt then proceeded to start punching him in the head, after more verbal abuse was thrown by Mr Holt. Things eventually started to calm down and they agreed to talk things over.

 Mr Holt wanted to know why Miss Nix went to hospital, and Mr Elliot told him she went to abort his baby. After this Mr Holt started attacking Mr Elliot causing serious facial injuries. He then made death threats and warned him against calling the police. 

During the fracas, a significant amount of criminal damage was caused. The police were later called, and Mr Holt confessed to the assault. A second charge of assault against Miss Nix was brought against him. 

But this was later dropped because no formal complaint was made by Miss Nix, and because it wasn’t a serious case of assault.

During the court session, Mr Holt was showing clear signs of regret and remorse at his actions. He was shown to be a hard working man, who is currently going through several jobs to support himself and his family.

Due to this, the magistrates let him off lightly. Handing him a 2 year community order, and he was also ordered to pay £150 compensation to Mr Elliot, plus another £1956 for the damage caused to Mr Elliot’s Property.

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Reds Win 78 Points Thriller (Match Report)

On Saturday at the Recreation Ground in Redruth, Redruth RFC took all five points as Clifton grabbed two in this ten try thriller. Redruth won the game 42 – 36 in a close fought contest in the National Division Two South. The Reds appeared to dominate the first ten minutes of the match, and they were rewarded by a try in the third minute via Jamie Semmens. The Reds then extended their lead to ten points in the twelfth minute through an Aaron Penberthy penalty goal.

However, Clifton started to find their feet and a string of poor defending let them in for their first try of the game, in the fourteenth minute by Neil Davis. Clifton appeared to gain confidence and straight from the kick off they came charging to the Red’s line. More poor tackling by the Reds let in Clifton number 13, Smee, for Clifton’s second try of the game after 16 minutes. 

This setback seemed to spur on the Reds, and three minutes after Clifton’s try an Aaron Penberthy drop goal brought the Reds to within a point of their opponents. Then in the twenty-seventh minute a Tom Duncan try gave the Reds the lead once again and three minutes after that a try by McAtee extended their lead to nine points. Redruth were looking very confident at this stage and were playing with a certain swagger.  In the thirty-seventh minute, they secured the bonus point as McAtee’s scored his second try, leaving the match at half time, Redruth 32, Clifton 14.

The second half began in the same manner as the first; the Reds dominating the early possession with Clifton making a string of errors. The Reds were unlucky to not extend their lead, but they failed to take their chances with Aaron Penberthy missing a penalty goal three minutes into the second half. Then Lewis Vinnicombe knocked the ball on just in front of the line. The Reds were made to rue their missed chances and Clifton came in with two tries in the space of just nine minutes  leaving the score at 32 – 28.

This setback seemed to demoralise the Reds and they continued to make costly errors as Clifton piled on the pressure. They were only saved by some desperate last ditch tackles. However the Reds slowly began to find their feet again. They put pressure on the Clifton line and were rewarded in the seventy-seventh minute by a try from Goodfellow. This appeared to have put the game to bed once and for all, but a storming run by Clifton’s number 7, Harrison, led to a try for the visitors. Fortunately for the Reds, Clifton missed the conversion leaving the game at 42 – 33 to the Reds.

Clifton were awarded a late penalty, but as this was going to be the last play in the game they decided to take the three points, ensuring they got a losing bonus point. The Reds were fortunate to win this one, but they still came away with all five points.

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Match Statistics:

Attendance: 782

Redruth

Tries: J. Semmens 2, T. Duncan 26, R. McAtee 28, 35, G. Goodfellow 76; Conversions: Penberthy 2, 27, 36, 76; Penalties: Penberthy 10, 68; Drop Goal: Penberthy 18

Clifton

Tries: W. Davis 14, S. Smee 15, M. Davies 48, J. Gadd 58, S. Harrison 78; Conversions: G. Knox 15, 16, 48, 58; Penalty: G. Knox 80

Labour's Sick Legacy

Due to the flaws of the previous government, children are failing to receive the basic healthcare that should be theirs by right. A young girl was left waiting on the list for almost 9 months which left her struggling at school and having to cope with great pain and discomfort, This comes with a 20% rise in waiting times even after a £90 billion investment in the NHS. Her mother, a single parent living solely on benefits, was unable to pay for private healthcare that would have saved her daughter from much trauma.

This kind of case is becoming ever more common in todays society amongst a population too reliant on an over-generous benefits system. A young, lazy, dolite culture in Britain bred by Labour is proof of their shortcomings in their previous term. The problem extends its reach to our middle class aswell. After all, it is they and the rest of the working public who pay for the scroungers of society through taxes. The cuts required to reduce the countries deficit are starting to squeeze on all families around the world and our hard working families are starting to struggle financially. This is all the more reason for us to tackle the issue of benefit claimers to lessen the financial burden suffered by all.


The case of the young nine year old unable to get improved healthcare is the fault of the labour government's left wing approach to the benefit system. With less of the countries spongers, more money would be available to use for improving the NHS: reducing waiting lists and increasing drug availability. The election of the labour party would yield even more dolites increasing the financial issues of this once great country in both the short term and long term. The only way to help the younger generation and indeed the whole population to get sufficient healthcare, is to re-elect the conservative government and so ending 'Labours sick legacy'.

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Co Written by Luke Chappel, Theresa Wigmore, James Knuckey & Dave Owen

News and Journalism in the UK, Book Review.

News and Journalism in the UK

By Brian McNair               

Published By Routledge - 2003

ISBN: 0-415-30706-6

Amazingly Factual!

News and journalism in the UK is an easily accessible and comprehensive introduction to the political, economic and regulatory environments of press and broadcast journalism in Britain. Brian McNair gives and interesting insight into the main trends in journalistic media over the past few decades. The first half of this book manly covers why journalism matters in today’s society, explaining its vast economic importance. He then goes onto explain how much journalism has grown since the 1980’s from just two organisations providing news for about two hours a day, to 3 news providers transmitting on 5 terrestrial channels and a vast number of other satellite and cable channels. And how some of these providers now have 24 hour news services, overall I found the first part of this book to be very informative and a rather interesting read. It wasn’t too technical, and everything was explained clearly so really anyone could understand it.

The second part of this book covers the issues facing broadcast journalism, the author goes into great detail about the relations between certain broadcasters like the BBC and the government. He explains how they’ve tried to regulate the content of their journalism, he explains how this feud was at its height during the reign of the Thatcher government, and although this was an interesting piece of history, I did find it a bit tedious and it could have been covered slightly quicker instead of trying to draw it out longer than it should have been. The rest of the book starts to cover other subjects such as radio and how they believed it was a dying form of media, but they got that horribly wrong. There were several other subjects covered and although these were nice and factual it didn’t really grab my attention in all honesty as much as the first part did, I found this was slightly disappointing.

So overall, is the book worth £15.99? If you’re a journalism student just looking for the facts and nothing more then I say yes. This book is probably well suited to you. However if you’re just an ordinary person looking for an interesting read, I probably wouldn’t recommend it for that price.

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Practice Advertorial (Mike’s Ninja School Reopens for Business)

Mike’s School of Ninjas has remained closed for the past 5 years due to a lack of demand for ninjas. People were safe and the need for the ninja to protect the community had waned. However, in these troubled times of riots and political unrest, there has been a call for the ninja to return to our streets and restore order to this once great nation.

Owner, Mike Slap, in his infinite wisdom, has answered this call and decided to open his doors once again to prospective ninjas. Mike prides himself on offering top quality teaching; many of the world’s finest ninjas were produced at his school. His teaching methods are brutal but fair; he needs to make sure only the toughest and most deadly go on to become ninjas.

Former student, Bill Smith, graduated from Mike’s School of Ninjas in 2003. “I am chief ninja with the Saudi royal family. This was only possible because of the training I received at Mike’s. His graduates get the pick of all the top ninja jobs both here and abroad. His training is fantastic but you will only graduate if you have the dedication, determination and balls to succeed.”

The tasks students will be entrusted with, once they have graduated, are fraught with peril. Handling dangerous equipment such as shurikens, nun chucks and many more is standard practice. Safety is one of the school’s main priorities and Mike’s students are trained to the highest standards, ensuring they never make a mistake which could cause harm to a member of the general public.

Mike is offering competitive prices for this superb training and if you wish to find out more contact him via email, schoolofninja@hotmail.com or by phone on 01798 213432.

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