Courts and Judiciary

Question 1

What is the Supreme Court?

Answer 1

Hears most important cases affecting the whole population

Question 2

What is the Court of Appeal?

Answer 2

Deals only with appeals from other courts. It is a process for error correction and clarifying/interpreting the law

Question 3

What is the Crown Court?

Answer 3

Deals with serious criminal cases. Has a jury and a judge who decides the punishment

Question 4

What is the Magistrate’s Court?

Answer 4

Hears criminal cases, youth cases and some civil proceedings

Question 5

Magistrates Court criminologist says:

Answer 5

(Davies et al., 2015):
“Nearly all criminal cases start in the magistrates court and most, over 90%, end there”

Question 6

The Courts Act + Year:

Answer 6

1971
Establishes the Crown Court as a Senior Court

Question 7

Issues with the Crown Court:

Answer 7

Expensive: National Audit Office (2016): £1,150 per day versus £1,900 per day for Crown Court
- Only 4% of judges identified as Black and Minority Ethnic individuals (Ministry of Justice, 2018)
- Issues with the reliance on juries to decide on guilt/innocence: no legal training