The Judiciary of England and Wales and Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service pride themselves on their friendly and effective relations with other judiciaries around the world. Every year we welcome many judges from other countries who are keen to learn more about our legal system. What you see today has evolved over 1,000 years; the judiciary is continuing to change and develop to meet the needs of our society and is widely regarded as one of the best and most independent in the world.
To meet the needs of society, our legal system is also complex. The International Team of the Judicial Office has produced a Visitors’ Guide to bring together a wealth of information about our judiciary and legal system it also provides an introduction to the work of organisations, such as the Ministry of Justice and the Crown Prosecution Service which support the justice system.
I believe this Guide will be an invaluable resource for any foreign visitor seeking to learn more about England and Wales today, the Judiciary of England & Wales and the English and Welsh legal system, and that it will enhance the quality of your visit. Please do take the time to read it. The excellent website for the Judiciary https://www.judiciary.gov.uk covers many of the topics discussed in this Guide in more detail.
I am grateful to the International Team for their work on compiling this Guide. I very much hope your visit to England and Wales is productive and enjoyable.
Lady Justice Arden DBE
Head of International Relations for the Judiciary of England and Wales
History of the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court was established in 2009 to achieve a complete separation between the United Kingdom’s senior Judges and the Upper House of Parliament, emphasising
the independence of the Law Lords and increasing the transparency between Parliament and the courts. (The Law Lords, also known as Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, were highly qualified, full-time judges who carried out the judicial work of the House
of Lords until July 2009, when they left Parliament to become the Justices of the new United Kingdom Supreme Court).
The Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal and the High Court constitute what are called the Senior Courts of England and Wales. It is an appellate court and is divided into two divisions, Criminal and Civil. Bringing an appeal is subject to obtaining ‘permission’, which may be granted by the High Court or, more usually, by the Court of Appeal itself. Applications for permission to appeal are commonly determined by a single judge of the Court of Appeal.
Cases are generally heard by three judges, consisting of any combination of the Heads of Division
(who lead the different jurisdictions of the courts of England and Wales – see below), and the Lord Justices of Appeal, who are the most senior judges, with lengthy judicial experience who hear cases on appeal; it is from these judges that the Heads of Division are selected.
The Civil Division hears appeals in all leading cases in civil and family justice from the High Court and, in some instances, from the County Courts and certain tribunals as well such as the Employment Appeal Tribunal. In a Court of Appeal civil court, there is a bench of three Lord or Lady Justices2.
2 A bench is the location in the courtroom where the
Each of the three judges reaches an individual decision. The Court’s overall verdict can be made either unanimously or by a two-to-one majority. When this happens, the judge who is in the minority gives a dissenting (disagreeing) judgment, explaining why they do not agree with the others.
The Criminal Division hears appeals in criminal matters from the Crown Court and points of
law referred by the Attorney General following acquittal in the Crown Court or where the sentence imposed was unduly lenient. The bench in this Division usually consists of a Lord or Lady Justice and two High Court judges – they hear appeals against conviction and sentence.
The most important Criminal appeal cases
are often heard by the Lord Chief Justice, the President of the Queen’s Bench Division or the Vice-President of the Court of Appeal Criminal Division, sitting with two judges of the High Court. Their decisions are always unanimous; if one judge disagrees, he or she will follow the others and not give a dissenting judgment.
judge sits. The term is also used to describe judges collectively, or a group of judges within a particular court or division.
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The Judicial System of England and Wales: A Visitor’s Guide Courts and Tribunals The High Court This court hears the more serious and complex civil and family cases at first instance. It contains three divisions – Queen’s Bench, Family and Chancery. Each of these has a judicial `Head’. The Head of the Chancery Division is known as the Chancellor of The Divisions of the High Court The Queen’s Bench Division is the biggest of Part of the civil work of the Division is handling those contract and tort (civil wrongs) cases which are unsuitable for the county courts for reasons of cost or complexity. It also handles libel cases. In London, this work is administered in the Central Office at the Royal Courts of Justice by the Senior Master with the support of the Judge in Charge of the Queen’s Bench Civil list, acting under the authority of the President of the Queen’s Bench Division. Outside London, the Division’s work is administered in provincial offices known as District Registries. The Admiralty Court is the oldest of all the Division’s specialist courts and deals principally with the legal consequences of collisions at sea, salvage, and damage to cargoes. The Mercantile Courts operate in eight regional centres throughout England and Wales. Established in the 1990s, they decide business disputes of all kinds apart from those which, because of their size, value or complexity, are dealt with by the Commercial Court. They also decide smaller disputes. The Commercial Court has a wide jurisdiction over banking and international credit and trade matters; the judges of this court can arbitrate in commercial disputes. The Technology and Construction Court covers areas including traditional building cases, adjudication enforcement, arbitration and professional negligence claims, and engineering and Information Technology disputes. In addition to London, the work of the Technology and Construction Court is carried out in eleven regional centres around the country. The Administrative Court exercises the `supervisory jurisdiction’ of the High Court, which means that it has the power to oversee the quality and legality of decision-making in the lower courts and tribunals and hears applications for judicial review3 of decisions of public bodies. Sitting as the Divisional Court of the Queen’s Bench, its judges also hear certain criminal appeals originating in the magistrates’ courts and 3 Judicial Review is a High Court procedure for challenging the administrative actions of public bodies. The Court can make what are known as ‘prerogative orders’, commanding a person or body to perform a duty, prohibit a lower court or tribunal from exceeding its jurisdiction, or quash the decision under challenge. It is not, however, concerned with the conclusions of the actions being undertaken and whether they were ‘right’; instead the focus is on making sure that the correct procedures were followed. The High Court will not substitute what it thinks is the ‘correct’ decision. Judicial Review is only appropriate when all other avenues of appeal have been exhausted. Its use has become more prevalent in recent years. |
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1166: The Assize of Clarendon Act is passed by King Henry II of England. It begins the transformation in English law for deciding the prevailing party in a case from trial by ordeal or trial by combat into an evidentiary model, in which evidence is considered and inspection made by laymen. This Act greatly fosters the methods that will eventually become known in Common Law countries as trial by jury. |
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Source: https://www.judiciary.uk/
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