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THEENGLISHCOURTSYSTEM
JusticeinEnglandisadministeredincivillawcourtsandincriminallawcourts.
Thereisastrongdifferencebetweenthetwo,eventothepointofusingdifferentterms
for the action of bringing a person before a judge in a courtroom. A person who has
sufferedlossorinjury,oranytypeofdamagecausedbyanotherperson’sactorfailure
toact,bringshiscasetoacivilcourt.Thepurposeofacivillawcaseistocompensate
such a person. It is said that the injured person, the claimant, sues the adverse party
who becomes the defendant. Very often the compensation sought is a sum of money
calleddamages.Otherremediesincivillawmaybeinjunctionsor,incasesinvolving
contracts,ordersofspecificperformance.
Incriminallawcases,ontheotherhand,apersonaccusedofviolatingthelawis
prosecuted by representatives of the State, in England called representatives of the
Crown. The purpose of a criminal trial is to determine the guilt or innocence of the
accused,alsocalledthedefendant,andtodetermineanappropriatepunishmentifheis
foundguilty.Nomatterhowminororseriousthecriminalactmaybe,itisacrimeand
theguiltypersonistheoffender.
Itissometimespossibleforthesameacttoresultinacivilcaseandacriminal
case. Take the example of the car collision caused by the fact thata driver was drunk
and in which he and the passengers of another car were injured. The driver will be
prosecutedbytheCrownfordrunkdriving,anoffenceagainsttheRoadTrafficAct,and
hewillbesuedfordamagesbythepassengersofthesecondcar.
UnlikeFrance,therewillbetwoseparatetrials:thecriminalcasewillbetriedin
acriminallawcourtonacertaindate,andthecivilcasewillbeheardinacivillawcourt
laterbecausethefunctionofthesetwotrialsisstrictlyseparate.
THECOURTSOFORIGINALJURISDICTION
When a case is brought for the first time before a court, it is said to originate
there. A court of original jurisdiction deals with a case at trial, in first instance. In a
civiltrial,thedecisionisgivenbythejudge,butnotinacriminaltrial.Heretheverdict
is given by a jury and only the sentence is determined by the judge. When a person
involvedinacivilcasewantstocontestthedecisionofthetrialjudge,hemayappealto
acourtofappellatejurisdiction.
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COURTSOFORIGINALCIVILJURISDICTION
A claimant can bring a civil action to one of two courts: the County Court for
minorcasesandtheHighCourtformoreimportantcases.
Thesecivilcourtsdealwithagreatvarietyofcases.Civilclaimsarebroughtto
courtwhenanindividualorabusinessthinksthattheirrightshavenotbeenrespected.
The claimant may sue someone for a breach of contract, for a tort, like nuisance,
negligence, personal injury, or concerning a problem of succession, or unfair working
conditionsetc.Thereareallsortsofcausesforactionandtheamountofmoneyclaimed
mayvaryfromafewpoundstomillions.
Bringing an action to court can be expensive. For this reason, people generally
trytonegotiatefirstandtheyareevenencouragedtodothisbytheCourtService,in
ordertodiminishthenumberofcasesinthecourts.Ifthetwopartiessucceedinfinding
anacceptablesolution,orsettlement,itissaidthattheysettleoutofcourt.Iftheclaim
cannotbesettled,theclaimantbringshiscasetocourt.
Following the Woolf reforms implemented in April 1999 and known as Civil
ProcedureRules(CPR),therehavebeenseveraleffortstomakeproceedingsquicker,
simplerandlessexpensive,dependingonthenatureofthedispute.Claimsareclassified
according to three categories. There are “small claims” involving very small sums of
money, “fast track cases” for claims of less than £15 000 with a number of steps to
follow to encourage negotiations and avoid trial, and finally “multi‐track cases” for
claims of more than £15 000 also carrying steps to follow which lead to alternative
solutions. These categories of claims use very different procedures which aim at
shorteningthedelaysforsmall,simpleclaims.SmallclaimsareheardbyDistrictJudges.
It is a District Judge in the County Court, or the Masterof the Rolls inthe High Court,
whodecideswhichtrackshouldbeused.
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The small claims track is normally used for disputes under £5,000, except
for personal injury cases where the limit is usually £1,000. They are dealt
withbytheCountyCourt.
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The fast track is used for straightforward disputes of £5,000 to £15,000
(increasedto£25,000fromApril2009).TheyaretriedbytheCountyCourt.
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The multi‐track procedure used for cases over £15,000 (increased to
£25,000fromApril2009)canleadyoubeforetheCountyCourtortheHigh
Court.Butifthemoneyinvolvedinthedisputeexceeds£50,000thecasewill
alwaysbeadministeredbytheHighCourt.
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TheCountyCourt
As said before, where the amount of damages claimed by the injured party is
£25,000 or less, the case will usually be started in a County Court. Cases in which
£50,000 or more is claimed must originate in the High Court, but in all other cases,
althoughthemajoritygototheCountyCourt,youcanchoosetostartacaseeitherinthe
County Court or in the High Court. Thus, it is said that the High Court has unlimited
originalciviljurisdictionbuttheCountyCourthaslimitedoriginalciviljurisdiction.
Thereusedtobe217CountyCourtslocatedinmajortownswhichcandealwith
nearlyallcivilcases,butsince2014thosewereunitedunderasinglecivilcourt(withas
many centres as there used to be county courts) whose name remained the County
Courtforconvenience’ssake:
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allcontractandtortclaims
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allcasesfortherecoveryofland
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disputesoverpartnership,trustsandinheritanceuptoavalueof£30,000
Some centres of the County Court administer divorce cases, bankruptcy cases,
admiraltycases(normallimit:£5,000or£15,000).
TheCountyCourtispresidedoverbyCircuitJudgeswhoarefull‐timeinferior
judges,DistrictJudgesandRecorders.Thelatterworkparttime.Asarule,allofthem
areformerbarristersorsolicitors.
The County Court has a much greater workload than that of the High Court. In
theyear2000,nearlytwomillioncaseswerebroughttotheCountyCourts,althoughnot
alltheseclaimsactuallyendedinacourtroom.Therewereactually55,836casesdealt
with by the small claims procedure, and 14,250 cases tried in the County Courts. The
CPRseemstohavebeenefficientasonly1,553,983caseswerestartedin2011.
TheHighCourt
The High Court is based in London but some of the High Court judges also
preside over trials in 26 towns throughout England and Wales. These judges are
considered superior judges and they receive a knighthood when they are appointed.
Theyareusuallyformerbarristerswithatleasttenyears’experienceorformerCounty
Court judges. They preside alone, without a jury. Proceedings in the High Court are
morecomplexandtakelongerthaninaCountyCourt.
The High Court is divided into three divisions. The first one is the Queen’s
Bench Division, headed by the Lord Chief Justice. There are approximately 70 High
Court judges in the division. The second divisional court is the Chancery Division,
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headed by the Vice‐Chancellor with 18 High Court judges assisting him. Finally, the
FamilyDivisionisheadedbyapresidentofthecourtwith17HighCourtjudges.There
is no general rule governing the type of cases heard by each division. However, each
divisiontraditionallydealswithcertaincategoriesofcases.
The Queen’s Bench Division (or Q.B.D.) descends from the original courts of
Common Law. It deals with contract and tort cases where the amount of damages
claimedisover£50,000.However,aclaimantsuingfor£15,000maywanttobringhis
casetothiscourtfollowingthemulti‐trackprocedure.Sometimesthedecisiontobring
an action for damages less than £50 000 is motivated by the idea of intimidating the
defendantintomakingasettlement.
TwootherspecificcourtsarepartoftheQ.B.D.:
‐TheCommercialCourtinwhichspecialistjudgesdealwithinsurance,banking
andothercommercialmatters.Asimplifiedprocedureisusedinthiscourt.
‐The Admiralty Court which deals with disputes concerning shipping and
navigation,suchascollisionatseaorsalvagerightswhenashiphassunk.
‐TheQueen’sBenchDivisionmayexercisejudicialreviewoverinferiorcourts
and decision‐making bodies, such as Government ministers or local councils. Judicial
reviewistheauthorityofacourttojudgetheconstitutionalityorcorrectapplicationof
the law concerning acts undertaken by an administrative body or decisions made by
lowercourts.
Theseconddivisionalcourt,theChanceryDivision,usedtobetheChancellor’s
court in which another branch of law called Equity (to be studied during the second
year of this programme) was created. This court is specialized in questions of
mortgages,contestedprobate,copyrightandpatents,insolvency,bankruptcyandtrusts.
TheFamilyDivisionoftheHighCourtismorerecentthantheothertwo.Ithas
jurisdictiontohearallcasesrelatingtothewelfareofchildrenundertheChildren’sAct
1989. It also administers matrimonial disputes such as declarations of nullity of
marriage or defended divorce cases. It also grants probate, which allows the
distributionofpropertyamongtheheirsofadeceasedperson,incasesofuncontested
wills.
COURTSOFORIGINALCRIMINALJURISDICTION
Like civil courts, there are two criminal law courts which try cases in first
instance: the Magistrates’ Courts for minor offences and the Crown Courts for more
seriousoffences.Hereagain,itisthenatureoftheoffencewhichdeterminesthecourt
hearingthecase.
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Non‐indictable offences, also called minor or summary offences, make up the
majorityofcriminalcases.Theyincludenearlyalldrivingoffences,disorderlyconduct,
commonassault,drunkennessandcriminaldamagewhichhascausedlessthan£5,000
worthofdamage.Theselessseriousoffencescanbedealtwithquicklythroughasimple
procedureandasummarytrial,intheMagistrates’Courts.
Triableeitherwayoffences,consideredmiddlerangecrimes,includeavariety
ofoffencessuchastheftandassaultcausingactualbodilyharm.Astheirnameimplies,
thesecasescanbetriedineithertheMagistrates’CourtsortheCrownCourts.Indeedin
certaincases,theaccusedisallowedtochoosetheprocedureforhistrial.
Indictableoffencesarethemostseriouscrimessuchasmurder,manslaughter,
rape,burglary,robbery,etc.Herethegravityofthepunishmentmakesitnecessaryto
guaranteetheaccusedafulltrialwithajuryinasuperiorcourt.Allindictableoffences
mustbetriedinCrownCourt.
Althoughbothcriminalcourtshaveoriginaljurisdiction,itmustbenoticedthat
thereisapreliminaryprocedureintheMagistrates’Courtforeither‐wayandindictable
offences.Thepurposeofthisistodetermine,beforetransferringthecasetotheCrown
Court,whetherthereisenoughevidenceagainsttheaccusedtojustifyafulltrial.
Inbothcriminalcourts,themajorityofpeopleaccusedpleadguiltytothecharge
againstthem.Inthatcase,thereisnotrialandtheroleofthecourtconsistsindeciding
what sentence should be imposed. However, when the accused pleads not guilty, the
role of the court is to try the case and decide whether he is guilty or not. It is the
responsibilityofajury,notthejudgetoconvictoracquittheaccused.Inthetrial,itis
the prosecution who must convince the jury of the defendant’s guilt «beyond
reasonabledoubt».Itissaidthattheonusofproofisontheprosecution.Thedefence
must prove either the accused’s innocence or that the prosecution’s case has not
eliminated reasonable doubt. In the Magistrates’ Court the accused is generally
defended by a solicitor. This is also possible, under certain circumstances, in Crown
Court,butoftenthisisdonebyabarrister.
Magistrates’Courts
As of 2015, there are approximately 330 Magistrates’ Courts in England and
Wales,aftertheGovernmentrecentlycloseddownnearlyahundredcourts.Thereisa
Magistrates’Courtinalmosteverytownandseveralinbigcities.Theydealwithlocal
cases and have jurisdiction over various matters. These courts are presided over by
23,500unqualifiedlaymagistrates,havingnoformallegaltraining,andafewqualified
district judges mainly working in big cities. The huge number of magistrates is
explainedbythefactthattheydonotsitaloneandthattheyonlydevoteasmallpartof
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theirtimetothisactivity.Thereisalwaysalegallyqualifiedclerktoassistthemincourt
sincetheyarenotprofessionalsofthelaw,butsimplymenorwomenofgoodwill.
 Themagistratesdoalotofthings,despitethefactthattheyhavehadno
formallegaleducation.
 Theytryallsummarycases(non‐indictableoffences)
 They hear triable either way offences which have been routed to their
court.
 As examining magistrates, they conduct preliminary hearings for triable
either way offences to determine whether there is enough evidence to
committhecasefortrialintheCrownCourt.
 Inthesameway,theydealwiththefirsthearingofallindictableoffences
whichmustbesenttotheCrownCourt.
 They deal with administrative matters, such as issuing warrants for
arrest and deciding whether or not to grant bail to a person who has
beenarrested,thusreleasinghimfromcustodyuntilhistrial.
 TheytrycasesintheYouthCourtwherethedefendantsarebetweenten
andseventeenyearsold.
TheimportanceofmagistratesintheEnglishlegalsystemisevenmorestriking
when one considers the fact that approximately 97% of all criminal cases are
administered in Magistrates’ Courts. In fact, all criminal matters go first to a
Magistrates’ Court, no matter where the case will be tried ultimately. In addition,
magistratesalsodosomeworkincivildomains.Forexampletheygrantalcohollicences
topubsandrestaurants,licencesforgamblingunderthebettingandgaminglaws,and
they issue orders for protection in family matters and take other actions under the
ChildrenAct1989.
TheCrownCourt
Before 1971, very serious criminal cases were tried by High Court judges
travelling across the country, either in special courts called Assize Courts or in court
sessions,inordinarycourts,heldfourtimesayearcalledQuarterSessions.Thissystem
becametooout‐datedandineffectiveindealingwiththeincreasingnumberofcriminal
cases.ItwasreorganisedbytheCourtsActof1971whichcreatedtheCrownCourtsto
hearallcasesnottriedattheMagistrates’Courts.
In the English legal system, all offences fall into two categories: indictable and
non‐indictable. Indictable offences are those which will be tried on indictment in a
CrownCourt.Anindictmentisadocumentreadbytheprosecutionatthebeginningofa
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trial.Itisaformaldeclarationofthechargesagainstthedefendant.Atrialbyindictment
is a full trial, with a judge and a jury, counsel for the defence, counsel for the
prosecution, solicitors assisting them or pleading for the defence directly in certain
circumstances.Atafulltrialonindictment,witnessesforthedefenceandwitnessesfor
theprosecutionareexaminedbycounsel.Allthesepeopleandtheirrolesincourtserve
togiveallproceduralguaranteestotheaccusedwhorisksaheavypunishmentifheis
foundguilty.
TheCrownCourtsitsin92differenttownsthroughoutEnglandandWales.They
areclassifiedintothreegroups:
 Firsttiercourts
There are first tier Crown Courts in big cities, like Birmingham and Bristol. In
thesecentres,thereisaHighCourtandaCrownCourtwithseparatejudgesforciviland
criminal work. High Court judges, as well as Circuit Judges and Recorders work
permanently in these Crown Courts. They can deal with all offences triable on
indictment.
 Secondtier
Second tier Crown Courts can be found in areas where there is no High Court.
However,HighCourtjudgessitthereonaregularbasistogetherwithcircuitjudgesand
recorders.Theydealwithallindictableoffences.
 Thirdtier
In a third tier Crown Court there are only circuit judges and recorders.
Consequently,themostseriouscases,suchasmurder,manslaughterandrapewillnot
usuallybetriedtheresincethereisnoHighCourtjudgesittingonthosecourts.
ItmustbenoticedthattherearenospecificjudgesattachedtotheCrownCourts.
Actuallyallthejudgesworkingtherecomefromeithersuperiororinferiorcivilcourts.
It is interesting to note in that criminal justice in England is rendered either by
untrainedcitizenslikethemagistratesorbycivillawjudges.
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