TEXT A. THE COURT SYSTEM IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

The Courts of the United Kingdom are separated into three separate jurisdictions as the United Kingdom does not have a single, unified judicial system, serving England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The most common type of law court in England and Wales is the magistrates' court. There are 700 magistrates' courts and about 30,000 magistrates.

More serious criminal cases then go to the Crown Court, which has 90 branches in different towns and cities. Civil cases (for example, divorce or bankruptcy cases) are dealt with in County courts.

Appeals are heard by higher courts. For example, appeals from magistrates' courts are heard in the Crown Court, unless they are appeals on points of law. High Court has three ‘division’. These are the: Family Division which deals with non-criminal cases to do with domestic law; Chancery Division which deals with business and property law; and, Queens Bench Division which deals with other civil law cases including those of slander and breach of contract.

The highest court of appeal in England and Wales is the House of Lords. (Scotland has its own High Court in Edinburgh, which hears all appeals from Scottish courts.) Certain cases may be referred to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. In addition, individuals have made the British Government change its practices in a number of areas as a result of petitions to the European Court of Human Rights.

The legal system also includes juvenile courts (which deal with offenders under seventeen) and coroners' courts (which investigate violent, sudden or unnatural deaths). There are administrative tribunals which make quick, cheap and fair decisions with much less formality. Tribunals deal with professional standards, disputes between individuals, and disputes between individuals and government departments (for example, over taxation).

The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 created a new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom to take over the judicial functions of the House of Lords and devolution cases from the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The Supreme Court began work in 2009, and serves as the highest court of appeal in England and Wales and in Northern Ireland, and for civil cases in Scotland. The High Court of Justiciary will remain the court of last resort in Scotland for criminal cases.

The legal system of Northern Ireland is in many respects similar to that of England and Wales. It has its own court system: the superior courts are the Court of Appeal, the High court and the Crown court, which together comprise the Supreme Court of Judicature.

The principles and procedures of the Scottish legal system (particularly in civil law) differ in many points from those of England and Wales. Criminal cases are tried in district court, sheriff courts and the Court of Session. The main civil courts are the sheriff courts and the Court of Session. District courts are staffed and administered by the district and island local authorities.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1322