English Legal System: Judiciary

Question 1

What are superior judges?

Answer 1

Judges in the…

Supreme Court – Justices of the Supreme court

Court of Appeal - Lord Justices of Appeal

High Court - puisne.

Question 2

Who is the head of the judiciary?

Answer 2

Lord Chief Justice.

Question 3

What are inferior judges?

Answer 3

Circuit judges who sit in both the Crown Court and the county court

District judges who hear matters in the county court and in the Magistrates Court

Tribunal judges.

Question 4

What does it take to qualify as a judge?

Answer 4

Legal qualification as a barrister, solicitor or in some cases a chartered legal executive

At least 5 years work in the legal profession

Question 5

What did the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 establish?

Answer 5

It established the Judicial Appointments Commission to deal with the selection of judges by recommending those who should be appointed to the Lord Chancellor.

Question 6

Who makes judge appointments?

Answer 6

The monarch.

Question 7

What is the role of the justices (judges) of the Supreme court?

Answer 7

They hear criminal and civil appeals which can only happen when there is a point of law involved.

They sit in a panel of 3 judges minimum but has to be an uneven amount.

Any decision the Supreme Court makes on a point of law becomes a precedent for all lower courts to follow.

Question 8

What is the role of the Lords Justices (judges) of Appeal?

Answer 8

They hear criminal and civil appeals.

They sit in a panel of 3 judges minimum, can go up to 5 in important cases.

Any decision the Court of Appeal makes on a point of law becomes a precedent for all lower courts to follow.

Question 9

What is the role of High court judges?

Answer 9

They try cases at first instance.

They will hear evidence from witnesses, decide what the law is and make the decision as to which side has won the case.

They also hear some civil case appeals tried in the County court.

They sit on their own.

Question 10

What is the role of judges in the King’s Bench Division?

Answer 10

They hear criminal appeals from the Magistrates’ court on law only, with a panel of two judges.

They sit in the Crown court with a jury and decide on the sentence.

Question 11

What is the role of the Circuit judge in the…

County court?

Crown court?

Answer 11

County court? Hear civil cases.

Crown court? They try criminal cases and sit with a jury.

Question 12

What are recorders?

Answer 12

Part-time judges who are appointed for a period of 5 years. They try criminal cases in the Crown Court and sit in civil cases in the county court.

Question 13

What is the role of a district judge in the…

County court?

Magistrates Court?

Answer 13

County court? To deal with small claim cases under £10,000.

Magistrates Court? To try criminal cases: they sit on their own.

Question 14

What is security of tenure of superior judges?

Answer 14

A right for superior judges to have security in which they cannot be dismissed by the government, that originated in the Act of Settlement 1907.

Judges therefore can only be removed by the monarch following a petition presented to him by both Houses of Parliament which gives superior judges protection from political whims.

Question 15

What is tenure of inferior judges?

Answer 15

The Lord Chancellor, with the consent of the lord chief of Justice, has the power to dismiss inferior judges for incapacity or misbehaviour.

This happened to the circuit judge Bruce Campbell in the 1970s for evading customs duty on cigarettes and whiskey.

Question 16

What is immunity of suit?

Answer 16

Judges are given immunity from prosecution for any acts they carry out in performance of their judicial function.

For example they have immunity from being sued in a civil case for the decisions they make which allows a judge to perform their duties without fear of repercussions.

Question 17

What does section 3 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 guarantee?

Answer 17

Those with judicial responsibility or those responsible for the administration of justice are guaranteed continued independence of it.

Question 18

What is the independence from the legislature?

Answer 18

Full-time judges are not to be involved in the lawmaking functions of Parliament, however, part-time judges can be members of Parliament.

Question 19

What is independence from the case?

Answer 19

Judges must not try any case where they have any interest in the issues involved as they must be completely impartial when making decisions.

This was shown in the 1998 Pinochet case where the case was retried with a new panel of Judges because the judge Lord hoffmann was connected with amnesty.

Question 20

What are the reasons for judicial independence?

Answer 20

It protects the liberty of the individual from abuse of power by the executive.

It enables judges to freely exercise their judicial powers without interference from the state or the media.

It enables judges to decide cases solely on the evidence presented and in accordance with the law.

Question 21

What are the advantages of judicial independence?

Answer 21

Decisions are only made on the basis of the facts of the case and the law which ensures fairness in all cases.

It protects citizens against impartial judicial review of Acts or decisions by the government.