Judiciary in the United Kingdom - Civil Courts & Criminal Courts in UK

Civil Courts in UK

Magistrates' Court:

Magistrates' Court are the inferior criminal courts in England. In addition to their criminal jurisdiction, they exercise certain family law, administrative law and minor civil functions. Now the magistracy is regulated by the Justice of the Peace Act, 1979 and the Magistrates' Court Act, 1980. These are the real identity of UK courts.

Magistrates of two types

Historically Kings and Queens in England were interested to resolve disputes. One of the unique feature was of the UK court system is the justices of the peace.

1. Justice of the peace

The history of the justices of the peace as a judicial officer can be traced to the Justices of the Peace Act of 1361. In the 19th century their judicial functions were extended as the some offences becoming triable by petty sessions and with the establishment and development of matrimonial jurisdiction.

The antiquity of the justice of the peace had connection with the Norman Conquest. In the crusade of Christians against the Muslims many Christian died. But the Christians conquered. They acquired vast amount of wealth. So, the king wished to empower them. Another cause was the break out of black diseases which prevented the king to room for administering justice by sending people. So, the local people were appointed to administer justice. They were called justices of the peace, as they had to maintain peace and tranquility in a society or territory. This system is still continuing in UK and in the same name. They are also known as lay Magistrates.

Appointment of Justice of the peace

The Queen on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor appoints justices of the peace.

Qualification of Justice of the peace

According to section 7 of the justices of the peace Act, 1979, the only qualification laid down is that, the person residing in or within 15 miles of the commission area for which he or she in appointed:

The Lord Chancellor's Booklet states that the justices of the peace should be:

(1) Personally suitable in character integrity and understanding.

(2) Generally recognized as such by those among whom they live and work.

The Lord Chancellor emphasized that bench should include man and women from an backgrounds and walks of life throughout the petty sessions area and thereby reflect the local community.

Additional Qualifications of Justice of the peace

(1) The person must be very much interested to serve people.

(2) They have to be ready to provide time required in this regard. (Two days in every ten days).

Today there are 1000 Magistrate Courts in England and these are about 27,000 Justices of the peace. They handle 1/4 of million of case every year. The Justices of the peace are unpaid. They are great. Critics term them 'great unlearned.' Clerk, i.e. solicitors, assists them. The clerks can participate in discussion in proceedings of the court.

(2) Stipendiary Magistrates

Stipendiary magistrates are professional magistrates and they are real judges. They are government servant in true sense.

They are different from the justices of the peace in the sense that they sit single in a proceeding while 3 justices of peace sit at a time.

Number of stipendiary magistrates

In January 1996 there were 30, 326 active past time lay magistrates or Justices of the peace. On the other hand, there was provision for the appointment up to 60 full-time paid and stipendiary magistrates' in London and up to 40 in the local areas.

County Court:

It is the first instance civil court in England. This court was first established in 1846 and it has a long history. The main objective to establish this court was to help the poor people and make their lives easier. Through country court a poor people can seek redress easily. This court was historically and popularly know as the 'Court of the poor' or Poor man's Court."

This court was established to mitigate the expenses of the poor as the rich could travel to London to seek redress but the poor could not. Even today it may be defined as a court of common people. It deals with minimum number of suits of civil nature. Today the County Courts Act, 1984 and the County Courts Rules, 1981, regulate the county court.

Composition of the county court:

There are more than 400 county courts in England today having 400 county court Judges. The county courts are manned by single judge. In addition to this there are 125 Circuit Judges. There are 125 circuit courts manned by a single judge.

Circuit Judges

Circuit Judges are also assigned to the county courts. There is no fixed court for them. All the counties are divided into several circuits and the circuit judges are assigned to such circuits.

Qualification of the judges

To be a circuit Judge or a Judge of the County court one must have the following qualifications:

(1) He must be a barrister of not less than ten years of standing.

(2) He shall be doing his duties up to 72 years of age. The retiring age in some cases can be extended up to 75 years.

The Registrar:

The registrar may act as the judge and decide a case when the claim is within $200. He is not only an administrator of the court but also a judge in some cases. In order to be a registrar, he must be a solicitor of not less than seven years of standing. The registrar keeps the records, prepares hearing, advises the jury and the judges.

Composition of the court

The court is manned by single judge. Sometime depending on the nature of the case judges are assisted by 8 members jury.

Jurisdiction of the court:

The court exercises the following jurisdictions-

(1) Contract and tort cases not exceeding £ 5,000 within the jurisdiction of the county court.

(2) In case of equity matters like trust, mortgage and agency not exceeding £ 10,000.

(3) In case of tax matters, e.g. land remit not exceeding £ 1000.

(4) In case of wills not exceeding £ 50,000.

(5) In many deal with the handing up of a company which is concerned with capital not exceeding £ 1,20,000

(6) Form 1467 by the Matrimonial Cases Act, 1967 matrimonial cases, divorce etc are dealt by this court.

(7) Bankruptcy matters.

Furthermore modern social legislation has reversed for the county courts a whole series of very important matters, notably those arising from housing law and legislative protecting tenants.

Procedure of the court:

The procedure of the court is very simple. Due to sole judge system the delay is limited in administering Justice.

Appeal:

An appeal from this court lies to the Court of Appeal. Due to less amount of the suit the parties do not generally prefer appeal.

High Court of Justice:

The Judicature Act of 1873-75 created the High Court of Justice. The court had five divisions at that time, namely.

(1) Queen's Bench.

(2) Chancery

(3) Admiralty and divorce.

(4) Probate

(5) The Court of Exchequer and Common Pleas.

In 1880 the divisions 'Divorce and Admiralty' and 'Exchequer and Common Pleas' were amalgamated with the Queen's Bench Division.

Again in 1970, the Administration of Justice Act made the modern structure, of the High court of Justice. Now it has three divisions.

(1) The Queen's Bench Division. It is a court of first instance.

(2) The Chancery Division.

(3) The Family Division.

Now the High court of Justice is regulated by the Supreme Court Act, 1981. There are certain specific demarcations which are determined by rules of the supreme court.

Composition Each division of the High Court of Justice has a head in different designation. There three divisions of the court are headed by following three chief Justices in the respective area:

(1) Chief of Queen's Bench: Lord Chief Justice.

(2) Chief of Chancery: The Lord Chancellor.

(3) Chief of Family Division: The President.

Queen's Bench Division:

This court is one of the oldest courts of common law. The Chief of the court is Lord Chief Justice. It is said to have been called King's Bench or Queen's Bench as its record run in the name of king or Queen. It is the most active superior count in England.

Composition of the High Court of Justice

45 out of 85 Puisne Judges assist the Lord Chief Justice. So, the vast majority of Judges are here. Some times it may happen that 50 puisne Judges many sit in this division. It sits in 25 cities including London. In addition there are 85 puisne Judges.

Qualification of the Judges of the High Court of Justice:

To be a Judge of the High Court of Justice, one must be a barrister of not less than ten years of standing. Generally the Judges of the county court or the crown court are appointed judges of this court. The Crown on the advice of the Lord Chancellor appoints the judges.

Jurisdiction of the High Court of Justice

As a court of immense importance, it exercises three types of jurisdictions, namely: Original jurisdiction, Appellate Jurisdiction and Supervisory Jurisdiction.

Original jurisdiction:

In its original jurisdiction, it deals with 3 kinds of cases.

(a) It exercises jurisdiction over all civil matters with unlimited pecuniary value which is beyond the limit of any County Court. The court mostly tries cases of contract and tort.

(b) The original jurisdiction of the court has been expanded from 1930 onward after the Admiralty Act, 1970 since then, admiralty matters has come within its original jurisdiction.

(c) All commercial matters and cases referred to it by the commercial courts.

Generally it is only the Judges who sit to hear the cases. But in cases of very complicated nature a few member of jury may participate.

Appellate Jurisdiction:

Appeals from the county courts, magistrates' courts, any tribunal might go to this division and then it acts as appellate court. When only appeal lies to this court, it many hear the case by a bench of 2 or 3 Judges.

Supervisory Jurisdiction:

Queen's Bench Division does administrative, managerial functions of the courts. It decides the sitting of cases, supervision of lower courts including that of county court and magistrates' court and administrative jurisdiction. In exercising this jurisdiction, this division exercises power by issuing writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, certiorari and prohibition by which inferior courts and tribunals are compelled to exercise their powers properly and restrained from exercising their jurisdiction improperly. 3,70,000 cases are heard by this court annually. This shows the burden that the court shares.

The Chancery Division:

The Judicature Act of 1875 express by assigned to the Chancery Division those matters which belonged to the Court of Chancery. Thus, this division originated from the medieval period. The Judicature Act, of 1873 defines the function of this division.

Composition of Chancery Division:

Lord Chancellor is the chief of this Division. 13 puisne judges assist him. Generally when the proceedings takes place Lord Chancellor who is law minister in UK is supposed to take part is proceedings. But in reality his deputy, i.e Vice Chancellor presides over the session in the court in absence of the Lord Chancellor.

The Chancery Division sits in London and in 8 other big cities, i.e. in 9 places. Annually it deals with 47000 cases, 1/3 of which are company matters.

Qualification of Judges of Chancery Division:

In order to be a Judge of Chancery Division a person has to be a barrister of not less than two years of standing.

Jurisdiction of the Chancery division:

This division exercises both

(i) Original and (ii) appellate jurisdiction.

Original Jurisdiction

(1) The most important its concerned matters are the execution of trusts, the redemption and foreclosure of mortgages, the dissolution and accounts of partnership, specific performance of contracts etc.

(2) The Administration of Companies Act and Bankruptcy Acts enhanced the jurisdiction of this court and now it deals with matters as winding up of companies and bankruptcy etc.

(3) By the administration of Justice Act, 1970 the court has been given power to hear probate cases.

Appellate jurisdiction of the Chancery Division:

The chancery division predominantly exercises original jurisdiction but in certain matters it has appellate jurisdiction. Thus, it hears appeals from county courts in bankruptcy matters and from the commissioner's decision relating to land and registration mattes. It also hears appeals under the Income Tax Act, 1952, under Industrial Assurance Act, 1923 certain industrial disputes appeal lies to this court.

The Family Division

This is the modern latest addition to the High-Court of Justice. It has superseded the former Court of Probate; Divorce and Admiralty Division by the Administration of Justice Act, 1970. The Act of 1970 regulate this division.

Composition of the Family Division:

The chief of this division is known as "president." He is assisted by 16 puisne judges. It sits at 23 different places including London in England & wales.

Qualification of judges of Family Division:

A person has to be a barrister of not less than ten years standing in order to be a judge.

Jurisdiction of Family Division

It Exercises Both (i) Original and (ii) appellate jurisdiction.

Original jurisdiction of Family Division

 it hears all sort of family matters e.g.

i) Maintenance of wife

ii) Custody of children

iii) Legitimacy

iv) Presumption of death

v) Adoption

vi) Guardianship of children

vii) Custody of minors

viii) Title to property in the dispute between two spouses.

ix) Validating of marriage, etc.

Appellate Jurisdiction of of Family Division

The divisional court of family Division hears appeals from the decisions of magistrates and the county court in family law matter.

Court of Appeal - Civil Division:

It is a creation of the Judicature Act of 1873-1875. The Supreme Court Act of 1981 now regulates it. The chief of this court is Lord Chancellor.

Composition of court of Appeal:

The Court of Appeal is composed of

i) The Lord Chancellor (Presides, in principle)

ii) The Lord Chief Justice.

iii) Special Judges: The Master of the Rolls (commonly he presides)

iv) The Lord Justices of Appeal: They are justice of Appellate court.

v) The President of the Family Division.

There are 28 Lord Justices of Appeal. Lord Chancellor, Lord Chief Justice, Master of the Rolls, President of the Family Division is ex-officio Judges of the court of Appeal (civil- Division). In reality the chief of the court of Appeal is the master of the Rolls and is appointed by the crown. The person must be a barrister of not less than 15 years standing. Generally the Judges of the High court are the Master of the Rolls of the Court of Appeal. The Judges of the Court of Appeal are called Lord Justices of Appeal. Lord Justices of Appeal are the genuine Judges of the Court of Appeal. The other 4 are additional to them. The Judges of the High Court of Justice may sit as judges in the Court of Appeal. In particular cases they are invited. But they are not regular. In rare cases law Lords (judges of the House of lords) may be invited to participate in the proceedings of the Court of Appeal.

Qualification of judges of the court of appeal:

In order to be a lord justice of Appeal, a person has to be a barrister of not less than 15 years standing. This court sits only in London.

Quorum of the Court of Appeal:

Three judges form the quorum of the court of Appeal but in practice usually 5-7 judges participate. The Supreme Court Act of 1981, provides that for deciding interlocutory matters 2 judges may sit for hearing.

Power of the Court of Appeal:

The court of Appeal is authorized to uphold a decision or reverse a judgment or can substitute some other judgment in its place. It may send for re-trial and it can also amend the decision.

Jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal:

It hears appeals from -

i) All Divisions of the High Court.

ii) County Courts in any case on questions of law.

iii) The Restrictive Practices Court.

iv) The Employment Appeal Tribunal

v) Interlocutory orders of a judge in chambers or in certain cases of Master in chambers.

The House of Lords:

The House of Lords is technically the assembly of lords which forms the second branch of British Parliament. In addition to its functions as part of the legislature, it exercises judicial authority and now it is the final court of appeal in all matters of civil and criminal from all courts in England and Wales. So, it is the apex court of England. It is a judicial organ which has enormous role. It is not only a judicial organ but also a legislature. It was established by the Appellate Jurisdiction Act of 1876. It has undergone a reform by the Administration of Justice Act, 1977.

Composition of the House of Lords:

The Judges of the House of lords are called "Law Lords". Under the Judicature Act, 1876, there was only a provision of two law lords, and now the number of "Law Lords" is 11.

Quorum of the House of Lords:

To hear and decide the quorum is 3. The Judicature Act. 1876 provides that there of the following persons must be present in order to hear and determine an appeal-

i) The Lord Chancellor (ii) the Lords of Appeal in ordinary / Law Lords and (iii) Such peers who have held high judicial offices as defined in the Act. In practice, most appeals are heard solely by the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, who were generally appointed from the ranks of the Court of Appeal. Cases are heard usually by a bench of five and not less than three Lords. The Appeal is brought in the form of a petition. Each judge expresses, separately, his own opinion technically called a speech. Decisions are taken by a majority.

Qualifications of the Lords of Appeal:

The Lords of Appeal is required to have held high judicial office for two years or be practicing barristers of not less than 15 years standing. There is no general right of appeal to the House of Lords. For appeal it needs a leave of the House of Lords i.e. a certificate. From the decisions of the Court of Appeal a further appeal may lie to the Appellate committee of the House of Lords. Leave to appeal must be granted.

Jurisdiction of the House of Lords:

The House of Lords is now essentially the final court of appeal and in civil matters it hears appeals from the Court of Appeal, when leave of either the the Court of Appeal or the Appeals Committee of the House has been granted.

Leap Frog Procedure

The Administration of Justice Act, 1969 has provided a 'leap frog' procedure whereby an appeal can go directly to the House of Lords from the trial court. For this procedure the following conditions must be satisfied:

i) Both the parties must agree to refer it the House of Lords.

ii) Where a certificate has been granted by the trial court and where the house of lords has granted the leave of appeal.

iii) The issue must concern a point of law of grave national importance.

The decisions of the House of Lords are binding on all the lower courts in England. The judges of the House of Lords are free to give their individual judgment but then the majority judgment prevails for decision of the appeal. The Law Lords hold office during good behavior and may be removed from office on the address of both the houses of Parliament. By the judicial Pension Act, 1970 the Law lords are required to vacate office on attaining the age of 75 years. There is no procedure similar to the French practice of cassation avec renvoi - a quashing or annulment and re-transfer of the case to a different court of appeal for re-trial. Both the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords adjudicate on the merits of the case.

The Judicial Committee of Privy Council:

The Committee is not a court. It only makes a report to the Crown, advising that the appeal should either be allowed or disallowed as the case many be. Its dissenting judgments are not disclosed. Though it is not that much of importance now in UK, Privy council is the highest court of Appeal for some commonwealth countries like Australia, Malaysia, Sierra Leone.

The Privy Council is an advisory body which developed out of the old Curia Regis and the task of its judicial committee is to give the Queen advice, which is invariably followed, on petition made to her as the fountain of justice by parties who have unsuccessfully exhausted the legal procedures in the national courts of commonwealth countries.

European Court of Justice

It is a supra national judicial organ. It is the creation of the Treaty of Rome, 1957. It is dominated by civil law system.

Criminal Courts in UK

The maintenance of democracy depends in a large measure on the just and efficient working of the courts of law. Judiciary indeed, is the never-failing-custodian of the liberties of the people in Britain and British justice-honest, impartial intelligent and available alike to rich and poor-has been the pride of Englishmen for centuries together.

The Criminal Law Act of 1977 provides 3 different types of offences namely:

(i) The one indictable offences are more serious offences, which are normally tried with a jury. An indictment is a written accusation of the crime-treason felony or misdemeanor-signed by the officer of the court.

(ii) The other non-indictable offences or summery offences are not serious offences. They are dealt with in magistrate's court and without a jury. Theses are minor types of offences, e.g. for violation of traffic rules.

(iii) There are other offences for which there is no hard and fast rule and they may be tried both as summarily or a full-fledged procedure many be adopted. Offences like 'theft', 'handling of theft property, fall under this category.

The criminal courts in the United Kingdom are as follows-

(i) The Houses of Lords;

(ii) The Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)

(iii) Divisional Court of the Queen's Bench Divisions;

(iv) The Crown Court;

(v) Magistrates' Court;

Magistrate's court

This court is at the bottom of the criminal court structure in England, which is sometimes known by its old name the court of petty sessions, or the court of summery jurisdiction. As defined by the Magistrate Courts Act. 1952, a magistrate's court is any justice or justices of peace acting under any enactment, or by virtue of his or their commission or under common law.

Function of the Magistrate Court:

It may function as a court of original jurisdiction in which summery trial procedure is adopted. It may also function as a court to do the work of preliminary investigation.

Procedure of the Magistrate Court:

Procedure of the Magistrate's court is regulated by -

(1) The Magistrate Court Act, 1980.

(2) The Criminal Justices Act, 1988.

Procedure in exercising original jurisdiction:

When the offence is not grievous in nature, the magistrate exercises original jurisdiction. No jury sits in such cases. Generally two magistrates sit and decide a case. In case of lay magistrate, three magistrates decide such cases. Such courts try offences like drunken driving.

Procedure in performing investigative functions:

At the first stage the magistrate conducts the preliminary investigation as regards the nature, gravity of the offence which has come before he magistrate Court. Two magistrates sit and decide the preliminary investigation. If a prima facie nature of a case is present it may be referral to the crown court for trial. So, it is very important step. The magistrate may thereby decide the case. In absence of prima facie case, it is discharged.

If a case is triable either by magistrate court or by crown court, then the magistrate has to decide whether there is a necessity of jury. Here the accused is given the choice of option as to the necessity of jury. If the accused wishes to be tried without jury, then the magistrate court tries the case. But in case of with jury, the case is tried by the crown court.

Composition of the Magistrate Court:

Magistrates court, which are manned mainly by lay justices, handle some 97 per cent of all criminal cases. In 1989 there were 1.89 Million cases tried. Of them 0.6 million were other cases and they could only be tried in the magistrates' courts, 0.4 million were cases that could have been tried in the Crown Court but the defendant choose instead to have the case dealt summarily before the magistrate. There are more than 550 Magistrates' Courts, some of which sit everyday, some of which sit very occasionally. They are manned by 26,000 lay magistrates and some 60 or so professional, full-time and paid stipendiary magistrates.

Crown Court

This is the pure criminal court in the United Kingdom. It was established on the recommendation of the Royal commission on Assizes and Quarter sessions - by the Court Act of 1971. According to jurist this Act brought about revolutionary changes in the court system of UK. For more serious crimes which cannot be heard without a jury, there is now another court in England which is called crown court. The composition and the jurisdiction of the court is now contained in the Supreme Court Act, 1981.

Composition of the Crown Court:

There are four different types of crown courts depending on the nature of composition

(1) Court which try offences triable by a High Court Judge e g. offences of grave nature e.g. murder.

(2) Courts which try offences which are triable by a High Court Judge are tried by a circuit judge or a recorder. This court tries offences like bodily harm grievous hurt.

(3) Courts which try offences which may be tried by either of the above mentioned judges.

(4) Courts which deal with offences which can be tried by circuit judges.

Qualification to be a judge of Crown Court:

So, the crown court is basically three tiers of judiciary. At the highest level are the High Court Judges; below the High Court Judges are the circuit judges and recorders.

To be a judge of the Crown Court one should be a barrister of 10 years of standing, and to be a recorder a solicitor of 7 years of standing.

In very rare cases even the stipendiary professional magistrates may also sit as a judge of the crown court especially when the presence of the magistrate was deemed necessary for the ends of justice. In England there are about 90 crown courts. All the big cities contain such courts. These courts hear annually 90,000 cases.

Jurisdiction of the Crown Court:

(1) To try punishable crime.

(2) To try offences which the magistrate court has concurrent jurisdiction but has sent to it for trial.

(3)To hear appeals from the decision of the Magistrates' Court.

Thus, crown court exercises both original and appellate jurisdiction.

Central Criminal Court:

It is located in London. It is known as old Bailly Court. This court hears and judges all the criminal cases committed in London. In addition to the judges, the Mayor sits as a judge of the court.

Divisional court of Queen's Bench Division:

It is a part of the high court. This court being a part of the High court has both original and appellate jurisdiction. As a criminal court it generally exercises appellate jurisdiction. It exercises its original jurisdiction only within the county of London and Middlesex.

Composition of Divisional court of Queen's Bench Division:

This court consists of at least two but usually three judges of the division.

Jurisdiction of Divisional court of Queen's Bench Division:

The appellate jurisdiction of the court is exercised over appeals from magistrate courts and the crown court. The court has also reversionary power to review the cases sent to it from the inferior courts by an order of certiorari.

Court of Appeal:

Since 1968 when the Criminal Appeal Act, 1968 came into operation, the Court of Appeal started functioning as a criminal court. By the Act of 1968 the Court of Criminal Appeal of 1907 was abolished. Thus, the criminal division of the Court of Appeal is the successor of the Court of Criminal Appeal.

Composition of the Court of Appeal:

The judges of the court are

(1) The Lord Chief Justice.

(2) The Lord Justices of Appeal

(3) The Judges of the Queens Bench Division.

Jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal:

(1) It can accept or reject an appeal.

(2) It can nullify a conviction by a lower court.

(3) According to the Administration of Justice Act, 1964, it can send a case to a lower court for retrial.

Prior to the Administration of Justice Act, 1964, if an appeal was made, the court not only decrease the punishment or return it but also could increase the punishment. This act removed the power of increasing punishment. Now, the court can not increase the punishment awarded by the lower court.

The practice of the court of Appeal shows that it removed the procedural limits or irregularities done by the lower court. For example, RV. Mckken (1960).

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