Legal Personnel- Judiciary and Separation of Powers Flashcards
What is the judiciary?
When judges are spoken as part of a group
Head of judiciary is Lord Chief Justice
Who is the Lord Chief Justice?
Head of judiciary in England and Wales
His key responsibilities include:
Representing the views of the judiciary to Parliament and Government
The welfare, training and guidance of the judiciary. Discusses with government the provision of resources for judiciary
Deployment of judges and allocation of work in courts
What are superior judges?
Those in high court and above
Include:
The Justices of the Supreme Court- sit in Supreme court
The Lord Justices of Appeal- sit in the Court of Appeal
High Court Judges (known as Puisne Judges)- sit in three divisions of high court, including those who sit in Queen`s Bench Division which also sit in Crown
What are inferior judges?
Those who sit in courts below High Court
Including:
Circuit Judges- sit in both Crown and County Court
Recorders- part-time judges who sit in Crown Court and sometimes County Court
District Judges- hear small claims and other civil matters in County Court
District Judges (Magistrates)- sit in Magistrates court in mainly big cities and can hear appeals from Magistrates
What is the role of the Justices of Supreme Court?
Hear about 70+ cases each year
These cases are appeals from lower courts and can be on any area of law, both civil and criminal, majority are civil
A case can only be appealed to Supreme if there is a point of law involved
Must sit as un-even number of panel
Any decision on point of law becomes precedent
What is the role of the Lord Justices of Appeal?
Only 36 of them
Sit in both criminal and civil divisions of the Court of Appeal
On criminal- hear around 6,000 applications against sentence or conviction a year
On civil- 3,000- may be appeals against finding of liability or appeal about the remedy awarded
Usually sit as panel of 3
On rare occasions where a point of law is involved, a panel of 5 may be used
Due to high work load, High Court judges will sometimes sit on panel
What are the roles of High Court Judges?
Each judge in High Court will be assigned to one of 3 divisions- QBD, Chancery Division, Family Division
There are Deputy High Court Judges who help with workload
Main function is to try cases- cases at first instance in civil law, hearing evidence from witnesses, deciding what the law is and deciding who has won
High Court Judges will also hear appeals- mainly from County Court in civil cases however judges in QBD will also hear criminal appeals from Magistrates
When High Court Judges listen to appeals, they sit in panel of 2 or 3
Judges from QBD also hear criminal trials in Crown Court- when they do they sot with jury. Judge will decide the law and sentence
What are the roles of circuit judges?
Sit in County Court to hear civil cases and also Crown Court to try criminal cases
In civil cases they usually sit alone, unless jury is required but that is very rare
In civil cases, they decide law, facts then decision who has won
In criminal cases they sit with a jury- judge decides law and if needed, appropriate sentence
What are the roles of the District Judge?
Sit in County Court to deal with small claims (valued below £10,000) and can hear other cases for larger amounts
Can also sit in Magistrates to try criminal cases- sit on own and decide facts and law and appropriate sentence
Can also sit in Family Court
What is meant by the separation of powers?
Theory states there are 3 functions of the state and only way to safeguard the liberty of citizens is by keeping these functions separate
Ideally this theory requires that individuals should not be members of more than one “arms of the state”
What are the 3 main aims of the state?
1) The Legislature- this is the law-making arm of state eg. Parliament
2) The Executive- Arm of state responsible for administering the law eg. government that forms the cabinet
3) The Judiciary- Arm of state responsible for applying the law eg. judges
What is the overlap of the roles in separation of powers?
There is an overlap between legislature and executive- ministers that form the government also sit in Parliament and are active in the law- making process
With exception of the Lord Chancellor there is very little overlap
This is important as it allows the judiciary to act as a check and ensure executive does not overstep its powers
However, it is up to debate whether judiciary is truly independent from other organs of government
What is meant by independence from legislature?
Judges are generally not involved in law-making functions of Parliament
Full-time judges are not allowed to be members of House of Commons
Rule is not as strict for part-time judges so Recorders can be members of Parliament
The Judges of Supreme Court are not allowed to be members of House of Lords
What is meant by independence from executive?
Superior judges can`t be dismissed my government= independence
They can make decisions which displease the government without threat of dismissal
Judicial independence is guaranteed under S.3 of Constitutional Reform Act 2005
States thy must uphold the continued independence of judiciary
States Lord Chancellor and other ministers must not seek to influence particular judicial decisions
