The civil courts of England and Wales and the CJEC

The criminal courts of England and Wales

(1)The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

The supreme court is at the top of the hierarchy of English Courts. It is final court of appeal in civil and criminal matters in England. The Court was created by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 to replace the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords. It commerced work on 1 October 2009. The court comprises 12 judges in total, called Justices of the Supreme Court. Biographies of the Justices, please refer to http://www.supremecourt.gov.uk/about/biographies-of-the-justices.html

(2)The Court of Appeal

The court of Appeal itself split into 2 divisions, Civil and Criminal. The Civil Division will hear appeals from the High Court and county courts. Cases are heard by a minimum of 2, but normally 3, judges are called Lords Justice of Appeal. The criminal division will hear criminal appeals against either conviction or sentence from the Crown court. Criminal Cases will normally be heard by at least 2 or 3 judges drawn from among the Lord Chief ( currently Lord Judge), the lords Justice of Appeal and the Justice of High Court. There are presently no judges in the Court of Appeal with black or Asian ethnic origins. As at 1 October 2009, of the thirty-eight Lords Justice of Appeal, 3 were women.

(3)The High Court (A)Chancery The Chancery Division of the High Court is presided over by The Chancellor of the High Court, with cases heard by 18 High Court judges. There is some overlap with the Queen's Bench Divisions civil jurisdiction; however, certain matters are specifically assigned to the Chancery Division. The principal business of the Chancery Division is: corporate and personal insolvency disputes; business, trade and industry disputes; the enforcement of mortgages; intellectual property matters, copyright and patents; disputes relating to trust property; and contentious probate (relating to wills and inheritance) actions. Most Chancery business is dealt with in the Royal Courts of Justice in London and in eight provincial High Court centres. The Chancery Division also contains the Patents Court (which deals with patents and registered designs) and the Companies Court (which deals mainly with the compulsory liquidation of companies). __________________________________________________________________________________ ___________ (B)Queen's Bench Division (QBD) The President of the Queen's Bench Division heads the QBD, which has both a criminal and civil jurisdiction. Cases are heard by the President, and 73 High Court judges.

Judges who hear civil cases in the Queen's Bench Division deal with 'common law' business - actions relating to contract, except those specifically allocated to the Chancery Division. They also hear civil wrongs, known as tort. Contract cases include failure to pay for goods and service and breach of contract, while QBD tort cases include: Wrongs against the person e.g. defamation of character and libel Wrongs against property e.g. trespass Wrongs which may be against people or property - e.g. negligence or nuisance. QBD judges also preside over more specialist matters, such as applications for judicial review a type of case which seeks to establish if a government decision has been made in the correct way. Judges of the Queens Bench Division hear the most important criminal cases in the Crown Court, and will travel around the country to do so. They also sit in the Employment Appeals Tribunal. The Queen's Bench Division also contains :

The Commercial Court The Admiralty Courts The Mercantile Court, and administers The Technology and Construction Court

The Commercial and Admiralty Courts The same judges sit in the Commercial and Admiralty Courts, which share administration and a common procedure. The Commercial Court deals with claims relating to the transactions of trade and commerce, including: commercial agreements import and export carriage of goods by sea, land and air banking and financial services insurance and reinsurance markets and exchanges commodities construction of ships, and agency, arbitration and competition matters. The Admiralty Court has exclusive jurisdiction over certain maritime claims (including the arrest of ships, collisions and salvage). It also deals with mortgage claims, limitation actions, ownership claims and cargo claims. Disputes in the Commercial and Admiralty Courts are largely international in flavour, with the vast majority of cases having at least one defendant or claimant from outside England and Wales. The Mercantile Court The Mercantile Court deals with business disputes which require specialist judges but fall outside the remit of the Commercial Court or the Chancery Division. It provides a regional court service to national and international businesses in a similar way to the Commercial Court in London. The Mercantile Court will only deal with claims that:

relate to a commercial or business matter in a broad sense are not required to proceed in the Chancery Division or in another specialist court would benefit from the expertise of a mercantile judge The majority of Mercantile Courts deal with cases that relate to commercial or professional disputes over contracts or torts (civil wrongdoing) - or to issues arising from arbitration claims and awards, such as: sale of goods restraint of trade hire purchase agency banking and financial services guarantees carriage of goods insurance and reinsurance markets and exchanges general commercial contracts - eg distribution and franchising professional negligence in a commercial context - eg accountants, financial intermediaries and advisers and solicitors There are no maximum or minimum financial limits upon claims. The Technology and Construction Court The TCC is a specialist court which deals primarily with disputes in the field of technology and construction. This includes: traditional building cases adjudication enforcement engineering and technology disputes professional negligence claims claims by or against local authorities concerning the development of land dilapidations claims nuisance claims fire claims IT disputes (relating to both hardware and software), and challenges to arbitrators decisions in respect of any of the above matters. TCC cases are managed and heard by specialist judges in London and at centres throughout England and Wales. The cases are allocated either to High Court Judges, Senior Circuit Judges, Circuit Judges or Recorders, both in London and at regional centres outside London. __________________________________________________________________________________ ___________ (C)Family Judges who sit in the High Court can hear all cases relating to children and have an exclusive jurisdiction in wardship a type of court order which gives custody of a minor (under 18) child to the court, with day-to-day care carried out by an individual(s) or local authority. Judges in the High Court also hear appeals from family proceedings courts and cases transferred from the county courts or family proceedings courts. (4) The County Court

2 types of judges sit in the county courts: Circuit Judges (the more senior) and District Judges. Work is divided among these judges on a set of procedural rules which are outside the ambit of this work. An appeal from the decision of a District Judges (the right to appeal is based on limited grounds) will go to a Circuit Judges. An appeal from the decision of a Circuit Judges goes to Court of Appeal. County Courts deal with civil (non-criminal) matters. Civil court cases arise where an individual or a business believes their rights have been infringed.

(5) The Crown Court Seriousness of offences Offences tried in the Crown Court are divided into three classes of seriousness. Class 1 offences are the most serious. They include treason and murder, and are generally heard by a High Court Judge. Class 2 offences include rape, and are usually heard by a circuit judge, under the authority of the Presiding Judge. Class 3 includes all other offences, such as kidnapping, burglary, grievous bodily harm and robbery, which are normally tried by a circuit judge or recorder. All cases start in the magistrates court. With indictable only offences the defendant will be sent to the Crown Court for trial. A defendant in an either way case who chooses to plead not guilty can request a jury trial, and will be sent to the Crown Court. Even if they dont request a jury trial, magistrates can decide to send them for trial in the Crown Court if the offence is serious enough. If the defendant pleads guilty to a serious either-way offence, magistrates can commit them to the Crown Court for sentencing. __________________________________________________________________________________ ___________ Appeals The Crown Court deals mainly with appeals against conviction and/or sentence in respect of criminal offences dealt with in the magistrates court, including orders such as disqualification from driving or Anti-Social Behaviour Orders. The Crown Court may dismiss or allow the appeal and vary all or any part of the sentence. Appeals are usually heard by a Circuit Judge sitting with no more than four magistrates (normally two). If you are a victim of crime, or a witness in a case, you can contact Victim Support for information and a chance to look around the court. (5) The Magistrates' Courts

Magistrates' Courts are purely courts of first instance. The Magistrates' court is unique in that the great majority of cases are heard before Justice of the Peace. Further information,please refer to http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/you-and-the-judiciary/goingto-court/magistrates-court

(6) Administrative tribunals and other courts

For tribunals,please refer to http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/you-and-the-judiciary/going-tocourt/tribunals For Privy Council, please refer to http://www.jcpc.gov.uk/about/index.html

The Court of Justice of the European Communities is the final authority on points of interpretation of European Community Law. The Court comprises a higher and lower court: The European Court of Justice(ECJ) and the Courts of First Instance(CFI) respectively. The ECJ is not just a court of appeal from the CFI, but a court to which domestic courts can refer points of European Law for clarification and ruling. The European Court of Human Rights is the international court created by, and with power to adjudicate cases involving the application of, the ECHR. It is wholly separate institution from the ECJ, and 2 should not be confused.

Sources: 1. 2. 3. 4. http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/you-and-the-judiciary/going-to-court http://www.jcpc.gov.uk/about/index.html http://www.supremecourt.gov.uk/about/index.html Holland and Webb, Learning Legal Rules.