UK Court System
The UK Court System is a hierarchical structure comprising various courts, including the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, and lower courts. These courts handle civil, criminal, and administrative cases, with the Supreme Court serving as the final court of appeal. The system operates under the principle of judicial independence and aims to provide fair and impartial justice.
8 Key excerpts on "UK Court System"
eBook - ePubInside Crown Court
Personal Experiences and Questions of Legitimacy
- Jacobson, Jessica, Hunter, Gillian(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Policy Press(Publisher)
...TWO The system: what is the Crown Court and what are its functions? In any jurisdiction, the system of criminal law defines certain acts as illegal, meaning that they are viewed as sufficiently damaging to society to merit intervention by the state when they are committed. It also sets out a structure by which the state determines whether illegal acts have been committed and administers punishments for these acts. In England and Wales, the police have a duty to investigate any criminal offence that is reported to them; and, when a suspect has been apprehended, the police or the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will make a decision as to whether to charge him or her. If the suspect is charged, the case falls within the remit of the criminal courts: that is, a magistrates’ court in the first instance and subsequently, in a minority of cases, the Crown Court. At court, it will be determined whether and what criminal offences were committed, and the punishment, if any, will be set out. The magistrates’ courts and Crown Court operate within a wider structure of criminal and civil courts. For the purpose of providing a broad context to the empirical research findings that are presented in the chapters that follow, this chapter will briefly outline the structure of the courts; the essential functions and composition of the Crown Court; and recent policy developments aimed at supporting victims, witnesses and defendants at court. Courts structure The courts system in England and Wales has a complex structure, as shown in Figure 2.1. At the top is the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal for civil cases from across the United Kingdom, and for criminal cases from England and Wales and Northern Ireland. Below the Supreme Court is the Court of Appeal, which has a civil and a criminal division...
- Cliff Roberson, Dilip K. Das(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...In some jurisdictions, such as South Australia, there is a group of “minor indictable” offenses that can be heard in either the superior or lower courts, according to the wish of the accused. Judicial System of the United Kingdom Highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of 12 justices including the court president and deputy president); note—the Supreme Court was established by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 and implemented in October 2009, replacing the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords as the highest court in the United Kingdom. Judge selection and term of office: Judge candidates selected by an independent committee of several judicial commissions, followed by their recommendations to the prime minister, and appointed by Her Majesty The Queen; justices appointed during period of good behavior. Subordinate courts: England and Wales—Court of Appeal (civil and criminal divisions); High Court; Crown Court; County Courts; Magistrates’ Courts; Scotland—Court of Sessions; Sherrif Courts; High Court of Justiciary; tribunals; Northern Ireland—Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland; High Court; county courts; magistrates’ courts; specialized tribunals. Source: CIA World Fact Book, available at: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook, accessed May 14, 2015. Summary The common law system was established from a case-to-case approach. At first, English common law developed as essentially feudal land law, and later in its formative years was shaped and defined by the French invaders. The Magna Carta, signed by King John in 1215, was the forerunner of many of the protections involving...
eBook - ePub- Hilaire Barnett(Author)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...In this chapter the role of the judges, the differing categories of law and the court structure are discussed, together with an introduction to the doctrine of precedent and statutory interpretation. Of central constitutional importance is the independence of the judiciary: independence from the government and freedom from any external influences which could compromise that independence. In Chapter 4 the separation of powers was discussed: in this chapter we look further at the laws and conventions which uphold judicial independence and consider the question of judicial accountability. There is no single unified legal system within the United Kingdom. England and Wales share one system, while Scotland and Northern Ireland each has its own distinctive system. Following devolution (see Chapter 11), Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales also have their own law-making Parliament or Assembly with its powers defined in an Act of the United Kingdom (UK) Parliament. Paradoxically, England is the only country in the United Kingdom which does not have its own law-making body. By convention, the UK Parliament will not legislate on matters which have been devolved to a national Assembly or Parliament. However, in relation to non-devolved matters, the UK Parliament continues to legislate for the whole of the United Kingdom. Supplementing statute law is the common law – the law derived from judicially decided cases. In addition, during the UK’s membership of the EU, the law of the European Union (EU) entered into domestic law under the European Communities Act 1972 and the Human Rights Act 1998 enables rights protected under the European Convention on Human Rights to be enforced in the domestic courts. As a result, the law is a mixture of statute law made by the UK Parliament and the devolved legislatures, the common law and European law. The Ministry of Justice paper Transforming Our Justice System 2016 sets out its vision for the future of the court and tribunal system...
eBook - ePub- Ryan Murphy, Frances Burton(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Chapter 8 The court structure Introduction Courts dealing with English law in the jurisdiction of England and Wales are largely divided into senior and inferior courts, but must also be distinguished as courts of first instance and appellate courts, which do not necessarily follow the same division, since even some inferior courts have appellate functions, as will be explained as we go along. At the top of the tree the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom 1 is also the final appellate court for Scotland 2 and Northern Ireland, while both separate geographical territories have their own systems of law, of which Northern Ireland’s is more like the common law of England and Wales. Scotland’s system, however, is completely different from English law, being a hybrid rather than purely common law system, owing to the influence of the civil law of France, generated by Scotland’s ‘Auld Alliance’ with that country, prior to the Union with England and Wales in 1603. 3 This means that the present day Supreme Court applies two separate systems of law in relation to appeals from Scotland and from England and Wales, which is sometimes very noticeable within the same subject area. An example of this is the completely different approaches to the breakdown of cohabitation relationships in the two jurisdictions, where Scotland has a statutory system to be found in the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2007, exemplified in the Scottish appeal of Gow v Grant, 4 while England and Wales have no such statutory provision, so that the applicable law is that of constructive trusts, as in the English appeal of Jones v Kernott. 5 1 Which is neither a senior nor inferior court! 2 In civil matters only...
- Clare Seymour, Richard Seymour(Authors)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- Learning Matters(Publisher)
...Courts which make initial decisions – courts of first instance – should be distinguished from those which review the decisions of other courts – appeal courts. Some types of case in which the legal issues may be similar, for example disputes about children or responsibility for accidents, are dealt with by one court rather than another because of their level of importance or the amount of money at stake. However, these categories are not absolute because some courts have both civil and criminal jurisdiction and some courts make initial decisions and also hear appeals. Courts have three primary roles, which reflect society’s values in one form or another: To provide a fair and independent mechanism for upholding the values which society regards as important, including the means by which actions considered to be harmful or undesirable are discouraged and punished. To define fair processes for the transaction of business and regulation of human relationships, and to provide for the determination of disputes between people who are unable to resolve them independently. To provide a safeguard against the abuse of power, in the form of impartial scrutiny of decisions, and a means of redress if necessary. The English court system is essentially a bottom-heavy hierarchy, with magistrates’ courts at the base, over which are crown and county courts, followed by the High Court, the Court of Appeal, and ultimately the Supreme Court (See Figure 2.1). Magistrates’ courts For over 650 years magistrates have undertaken the greater part of judicial work and around 95% of court business is conducted in some 350 magistrates’ courts in England and Wales. There are over 29,000 magistrates, evenly divided as to gender, with around 8% from ethnic minority groups. Magistrates are unpaid, other than expenses, and do not need formal qualifications, though they receive training...
- Peter Joyce, Wendy Laverick(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Teach Yourself(Publisher)
...These hear appeals based on procedural matters or alleged errors of fact made by the lower-tier court (although the prosecution cannot appeal against a not guilty verdict). Cases are heard by a panel of two or three judges. The highest court in each state is often termed a supreme court. It acts as an appellate court for appeals against decisions reached by state circuit courts and (in states that have them) state intermediate appellate courts that are based upon an alleged error of law. Cases are heard by a panel of judges whose number varies from three to nine. Courts with international jurisdiction Key idea Individual nation states may also be subject to the operation of courts that have international jurisdiction. In Europe, these include the European Court of Human Rights. The courts which function within one country are referred to as domestic courts. In addition to these, there are courts that exercise jurisdiction over a number of countries. We will consider the operations of two of these courts that affect the criminal justice system in England and Wales. THE EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE (ECJ)/THE COURT OF JUSTICE This court was established in 1952, and its main purpose is to ensure that European Union (EU) law is adhered to within member countries. Disputes between states, between the EU and member states, between individuals and the EU, or between the institutions of the EU are all referred to this court. It has the power to declare unlawful any national law that contravenes EU law and also has the power to fine companies in breach of this legislation. The 2009 Treaty of Lisbon renamed the ECJ the Court of Justice...
eBook - ePub- Landsberg C, S Graham, Landsberg C, S Graham(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Van Schaik Publishers(Publisher)
...When a dispute over the application of rules of law arises, it is the function of the judiciary to resolve the dispute by determining what the law is and by applying it to the dispute. The South African legal system is the product of our history and can be described as a synthesis of Roman-Dutch and English law, but also includes rules of indigenous law. Since 1994, the principle of constitutional supremacy replaced parliamentary sovereignty as the cornerstone of our legal system, which brought about fundamental changes to the system. Law can be classified in terms of its sources and its content. Legislation, common law and court decisions are the most important sources of law. In terms of content, private law and public law are the main branches of the law, although each can be classified into numerous subdivisions. South Africa has a hierarchical court system consisting of the Constitutional Court (the highest court in all matters), the Supreme Court of Appeal, the divisions of the High Court of South Africa, the magistrates’ courts and a number of special courts. The Superior Courts Act and the Constitution Seventeenth Amendment Act have made various changes to the superior court’s system, mostly to the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court – making this court the highest court with regard to all matters and not only constitutional matters. The Constitutional Court, however, retains exclusive jurisdiction in certain constitutional matters. In order to fulfil the judicial function effectively, the judiciary should be independent. Its independence is determined by the procedures for the appointment of judges, their terms of office and their conditions of service, and by the extent to which they are able to exercise their powers without interference from the other branches of government. The judicial process in the narrow sense refers to the procedures followed when a legal dispute is resolved. Anyone has the right to approach a court for relief in a legal dispute...
eBook - ePub- Ursula Smartt(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Superior courts – the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) (formerly House of Lords (HL)), Court of Appeal (CA), High Court and crown court – have unlimited jurisdiction and deal with the more important and difficult cases. These courts are known as ‘superior courts of record’. The county courts and coroners’ courts are ‘inferior courts of record’. Magistrates’ courts are not courts of record. For example, a superior court of record (such as the Administrative Court) has power to punish all forms of contempt of court while an inferior court of record can generally only punish contempt committed in the face of the court. Most precedent cases (the ones you read in law books and legal journals) will have been decided either by the Supreme Court (UKSC) or the CA (Criminal or Civil Divisions). Inferior courts (such as county or magistrates’ courts) have limited jurisdiction and hear the less important or less difficult cases. Inferior courts are subject to the supervisory (prerogative) jurisdiction of the High Court. Tribunals are part of Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) but are not part of the Supreme Court of Record, despite the fact that High Court judges can sit on these. Courts of England and Wales Magistrates’ courts Hear the majority of all criminal cases (about 95 per cent) presided by either a bench of three lay magistrates (Justice of the Peace – JP) or a (salaried) district judge. Magistrates deal with two kinds of cases: ● Summary offences. These are less serious cases, such as motoring offences and minor assaults, where the defendant is not usually entitled to trial by jury. ● Either-way offences. As the name implies, these can be dealt with either by magistrates or before a judge and jury at the crown court. Such offences include theft, burglary, handling stolen goods or actual bodily harm. A defendant can insist on their right to trial in the crown court...
