Law Key Words ELS💌(Judicary)-NOVEMBER EXAM TOPIC FOCUS Flashcards
Superior Judges
Superior judges are those judges who are entitled to sit in the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords.
Inferior Judges
Inferior judges are those judges who sit in courts below the level of the High Court
Qualifications
Set out in the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990.
Selection
Constitutional reform act changed the way Judges are appointed- they are now free from political influence.
Appointment
The appointment is made by the King, This keeps selection and appointment free from the government.
Justices of the Supreme Court
Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom are the judges of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom other than the president and the deputy president.
Lord Justices of Appeal
A Lord Justice of Appeal or Lady Justice of Appeal
is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, the Crown Court and other courts and tribunals.
High Court Judges
They try serious criminal cases, important civil cases and assist the Lord and Lady Justices to hear appeals. High Court Judges are given the prefix ‘The Honourable’ and are referred to as ‘Mr/Mrs/Ms Justice surname’. So, for example, a High Court Judge would formally be referred to as The Honourable Mrs Justice Smith.
Circuit Judge
Circuit judges are appointed to one of six circuits of England and Wales and sit in the Crown and County Courts within their particular region. They must be lawyers who have held a ‘right of audience’ (the right to appear in court as an advocate) for at least seven years, or have been a recorder, or held certain other judicial roles on a full time basis for at least three years including being a High Court Master or District Judge.
Recorder
A recorder is essentially a part-time circuit judge, and like being a deputy district or tribunal judge the role is fee-paid (ie paid by the day rather than salaried). Recorders are appointed either to the Crown Court or the County Court
District Judge
The work of District Judges involves a wide spectrum of civil and family law cases such as claims for damages and injunctions, possession proceedings against mortgage borrowers and property tenants, divorces, child proceedings, domestic violence injunctions, court of protection, anti-social behaviour injunctions, committals and insolvency proceedings. The jurisdiction of the District Judges is the widest of any judicial appointment
Security of superior Judges
Superior Judges cannot be dismissed by the government. This comes from the Act of Settlement 1701.
Tenure of inferior Judges
They do not have the same security as superior Judges. The Lord Chancellor has the right to dismiss inferior Judges,
Immunity from suit
Judges are given immunity from prosecution for any acts they carry out in performance of their judicial function. They also benefit from immunity from being sued for defamation for the things they say about parties or witnesses in the course of hearing cases.
Sirros v Moore 1957- Judge wrongly ordered someone’s detention. That person started a claim against the Judge. C of A stated that no action could be taken against the Judge
Independence from the executive
Judicial independence does, however, mean that judges must be free to exercise their judicial powers without interference from litigants, the state, the media or powerful individuals or entities, such as large companies.
