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.
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