English Courts Today

The current arrangement of the system of justice in England and Wales is based on its historical development. At the moment the court structure in England and Wales comprises the following elements:

A certain number of cases may also be referred to the European Court of Justice, which has jurisdiction on matters of European Community law. The House of Lords is at the top of the structure. Lords of Appeal in Ordinary commonly known as the Law Lords, each of them being a full member of the House and a life peer,

perform their judicial functions sitting as the House itself or more commonly

hearing appeals as a Committee of the House known as the Appellate Committee.

Thus the House of Lords is the final point of appeal. The House of Lords hears appeals from the Court of Appeal and in exceptional circumstances from the High Court. Apart from England and Wales it may also hear appeals from Northern Ireland and in civil cases from Scotland.

The Supreme Court is not a separate entity. It comprises the Court of Appeal, High Court of Justice and the Crown Court and only exists as a combination of the three.

The Court of Appeal sits in London and consists of the Civil Division which hears appeals from the High Court and from the County Courts and the Criminal Division which hears appeals from the Crown Court. The Court of Appeal has appellate jurisdiction only .

The High Court of Justice deals with the more important civil disputes( those in which large sums of money or other important issues are at stake) There are three Divisions of the High Court:

The Queen's Bench Division deals with actions for damages arising from torts, breaches of contract and Court also hears disputes arising from trade and commerce .

The Family Division headed by the President deals with matrimonial and

family matters,  including issues relating to  children, wardship  and adoption applications, divorce. It also deals with non-contentious probate, which means

cases concerned with wills where there is no dispute and, where no will has been

made, the distribution of estates under the intestacy laws.

The Chancery Division presided over by the Vice-Chancellor has jurisdiction over a wide range of issues, including land matters, trusts, contentious probate, company, partnership and bankruptcy matters as well as intellectual property disputes.

The Crown Court deals with all those criminal cases which the Magistrates  are not empowered to deal with. Practically all its work is concerned with cases committed for trial or sentence by the Magistrates or with appeals decisions.

The County Courts, in their present form, came into existence as a result of an Act of Parliament. They were intended to provide a recovering small debts and to give, in a limited range of cases, similar n those obtained in the High Court. This has remained their main functions now have jurisdiction to deal with a broad spectrum of civil proceedings, within specified limits.

Generally the County Courts and the High Court have concurrent jurisdiction and a litigant may seek redress from either of the courts, depending, though, complexity of the case and the amount of damages claimed.

The Magistrates' Courtsdeal with minor family matters, some forms of civil debt as well as minor criminal offences that can be tried either way where the defendant

Has elected to be tried summarily. The magistrates have limited  sentencing powers. Where they are of the opinion the offence deserves  a more  severe  sentence, the magistrates can commit the offender for sentencing at the Crown Court. Apart from lay magistrates there are professional magistrates or stipendiaries. A stipendiary magistrate sits alone.