the court system Flashcards
what are civil courts?
resolve disputes between private individuals or between individuals and the state where one party seeks remedy against another
what are criminal courts?
hear and determine accusations against persons that have broken the criminal law. the accusation is made by a representative of the state
what are administrative court?
specialised courts to deal with judicial review, scrutinises acts of public bodies and determine their lawfulness, part of kings bench divisions at the high court and it has its distinct procedures and rule
are county courts purely civil or criminal courts?
civil courts
are crown courts mostly civil or criminal courts?
criminal courts
what are superior courts?
have unlimited jurisdiction and hear more important and complex cases, there jurisdiction is unlimited geographically
what are inferior courts?
magistrates/county courts which have limited jurisdictions and hear less important and less complex cases, there also limited geographically and according to the subject matter of the dispute
what are the original jurisdictions?
court of first instance
what are appellate jurisdictions?
hears appeals from lower courts
what are 2 examples of appellate courts?
court of appeal and Supreme Court
what courts are examples of original and appellate?
high court and crown court
what are tribunals?
a person of authority who adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes. they are less formal and provide quicker and less expensive procedures
approximately how many types of tribunals are there?
70
what are 3 examples of tribunals?
- immigration
- employment
- social security
what is a coroners court?
an independent judicial office holder appointed by the local council
what do coroners do?
investigate deaths that have been reported it it appeared that: the death was violent and unnatural, COD unknown or a person dies in prison/police/state custody
what are the reporting procedures?
- most court decisions not reported - reporting restrictions, lower court decisions not significant
- reported cases are at higher appellate level (legal principles)
is there an official law reporting body?
no
what is the order of the UK court system? (lowest to highest) (6)
- magistrates court
- county courts
- crown courts
- high courts
- court of appeal
- supreme court
what are the 4 hierarchy of courts?
- original or appellate
- civil or criminal jurisdictions
- inferior or superior court
- precedent - principle of law that is binding on lower courts
magistrates court
- unpaid - not legally qualified
- local
- orignal
- criminal and summary
- 12 month sentence
- youth courts
- committal proceedings - indictable/triable either way
how many professional salaried judges sit in magistrates as district judges?
140
how many sit on the bench in magistrate courts?
3
can individuals apply for bail is tried in magistrate courts?
yes
county courts
- civil jurisdictions only
- local
- original
- district/circuit judges
- around 222 courts
- small claims - less than £5000
- fast track - up to £25 000
- multi-track cases in high court
crown courts
- criminal
- original
- all cases on indictment
- appeal from magistrates
- 90 venues
how many crown courts are there in England and Wales?
77
true or false defendants convicted in magistrates courts can be sent to the crown court for sentencing due to the seriousness of the offence
true
where the 4 classes of seriousness in crown courts?
Class 1 are the most serious - treason and murder
Class 2 - rape, manslaughter
Class 3 - kidnapping, burglary
Class 4 - GBH and robbery
true or false - defendants with ‘either way’ cases who choose to please not guilty can request a jury trial and will be sent to the crown court
true
can magistrates send a trail to the crown court if they deem the offence to be serious enough
yes
high courts
- original and appellate
- criminal and civil
- 3 divisions
what are the 3 divisions of high courts?
- kings bench - contract/tort
- chancery - equity/trust
- family - divorce/adoption
high court - kings bench
- three administrative divisions - same court - different actions
- kings bench - 70 judges - civil/criminal/supervisory/appellate
what are the 3 specialist courts in the kings bench
- admiralty
- commercial
- technology and construction
high court - chancery division
- 17 judges
- 2 specialist courts - patent/companies
- mostly original jurisdiction:
- sale and exchange of land - redemption and foreclosure of mortgages
- trusts and probate
- bankruptcy
- company law
- patents/trademark/copyright
high court - family division
- 18 judges
- original and appellate
- appellate jurisdiction mainly from magistrates and county
- divorce, wardship, adoption
court of appeal
- civil and criminal division
- appellate - appeals on sentence and conviction from crown/high/county courts
- 38 lords justice of appeal
- case reported
what division in court of appeal is only appellate?
criminal division
where do the civil divisions in court of appeal, appeal from?
high or county court
why do cases get appealed to court of appeal?
sentencing/convictions from court courts or points of law from A-G
what did the Supreme Courts replace and under what legislation?
House of Lords under s.23 constitutional reform act 2005
supreme courts
- final court of appeal in civil and criminal law - binds the decisions of all lower courts
- appellate jurisdiction
- 12 justices of the Supreme Court
appeals
- appeals may only be brought with the courts permission
- appeal court will allow an appeal where decisions of lower court is in error on point of law/unjust
what is an appeal?
process by which appellant seeks to change a judgement of a lower court by brining it for reconsideration in a higher court
judicial committee of the privy council
- justices of supreme courts are also judge of privy council
- final court of appeal for cases from NZ, Bahamas, Jamaica
does the judicial committee of the privy council bind decisions on UK courts
no but they are highly persuasive
