The Senior Courts of England and Wales

The Senior Courts of England and Wales were originally created by the Judicature Acts as the "Supreme Court of Judicature". It was renamed the "Supreme Court of England and Wales" in 1981,[1] and again to the "Senior Courts of England and Wales" by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. It consists of the following courts:

Court of Appeal

High Court of Justice

Crown Court

Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal deals only with appeals from other courts. The Court of Appeal consists of two divisions: the Civil Division hears appeals from the High Court and County Court and certain superior tribunals, while the Criminal Division may only hear appeals from the Crown Court connected with a trial on indictment (i.e. trial by judge and jury (the jury is only present if the defendant pleads "not guilty")). Its decisions are binding on all courts apart from the House of Lords.

High Court

The High Court of Justice functions both as a civil court of first instance and a criminal appellate court for cases from the subordinate courts. It consists of three divisions: the Queen's Bench, the Chancery and the Family divisions. The divisions of the High Court are not separate courts. Although particular kinds of cases will be assigned to each division depending on their subject matter, each division may exercise the jurisdiction of the High Court. However, beginning proceedings in the wrong division may result in a costs penalty.

The Crown Court

The Crown Courtis a criminal court of both original and appellate jurisdiction which in addition handles a limited amount of civil business both at first instance and on appeal. It was established by the Courts Act of 1971. It replaced the Assizes whereby High Court judges would periodically travel around the country hearing cases, and Quarter Sessions which were periodic county courts. The Old Bailey is the unofficial name of London's most famous Criminal Court, which is now part of the Crown Court. Its official name is the "Central Criminal Court". The Crown Court also hears appeals from Magistrates' Courts.

Subordinate courts

The most common subordinate courts in England and Wales are the

Magistrates' Courts

Family Proceedings Courts

Youth courts

County Courts

Magistrates', Family Proceedings and Youth Courts

Magistrates' Courts are presided over by a bench of lay magistrates (aka justices of the peace), or a legally-trained district judge (formerly known as a stipendiary magistrate), sitting in each local justice area. There are no juries. They hear minor criminal cases, as well as certain licensing applications. Youth courts are run on similar lines to Adult magistrates' courts but deal with offenders aged between the ages of 10 and 17 inclusive. Youth courts are presided over by a specially trained subset of experienced adult magistrates or a district judge. Youth magistrates have a wider catalogue of disposals available to them for dealing with young offenders and often hear more serious cases against youths (which for adults would normally be dealt with by the Crown Court). In addition some Magistrates' Courts are also a Family Proceedings Court and hear Family law cases including care cases and they have the power to make adoption orders. Family Proceedings Courts are not open to the public. The Family Proceedings Court Rules 1991 apply to cases in the Family Proceedings Court. Youth courts are not open to the public for observation, only the parties involved in a case being admitted.

County Courts

County Courts are statutory courts with a purely civil jurisdiction. They are presided over by either a District or Circuit Judge and, except in a small minority of cases such as civil actions against the Police, the judge sits alone as trier of fact and law without assistance from a jury. County courts have divorce jurisdiction and undertake private family cases, care proceedings and adoptions.

County Courts are local courts in the sense that each one has an area over which certain kinds of jurisdiction—such as actions concerning land or cases concerning children who reside in the area—are exercised. For example, proceedings for possession of land must be started in the county court in whose district the property lies. However, in general any county court in England and Wales may hear any action and claims are frequently transferred from court to court. it sits in 92 different cities of UK.

The House of Lords is the highest appeal court in almost all cases in England and Wales. The judicial functions of the House of Lords are entirely separate from its governmental role with only the Law Lords hearing the appeals from the Court of Appeal and the High Court.^[1] It's decisions are binding on all lower courts.

Criminal cases

There are two kinds of criminal trial: 'summary' and 'on indictment'. For an adult, summary trials take place in a magistrates' court, while trials on indictment take place in the Crown Court. Despite the possibility of two venues for trial, almost all criminal cases, however serious, commence in the Magistrates' Courts. It is possible to start a trial for an indictable offence by a voluntary bill of indictment, and go directly to the Crown Court, but that would be unusual.

A criminal case that starts in the Magistrates' Court may begin either by the defendant being charged and then being brought forcibly before Magistrates, or by summons to the defendant to appear on a certain day before the Magistrates. A summons is usually confined to very minor offences. The hearing (of the charge or summons) before the Magistrates is known as a "first appearance".

Offences are of three categories: indictable only, summary and either way. Indictable only offences such as murder and rape must be tried on indictment in the Crown Court. On first appearance, the Magistrates must immediately refer the defendant to the Crown Court for trial, their only role being to decide whether to remand the defendant on bail or in custody.

Summary offences, such as most motoring offences, are much less serious and most must be tried in the Magistrates' Court, although a few may be sent for trial to the Crown Court along with other offences that may be tried there (for example assault). The vast majority of offences are also concluded in the Magistrates' Court (over 90% of cases).

Civil cases

Under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, civil claims under £5,000 are dealt with in the County Court under the 'Small Claims Track'. This is generally known to the lay public as the 'Small Claims Court' but does not exist as a separate court. Claims between £5,000 and £25,000 that are capable of being tried within one day are allocated to the 'Fast Track' and claims over £25,000 to the 'Multi Track'. These 'tracks' are labels for the use of the court system – the actual cases will be heard in the County Court or the High Court depending on their value.

For Personal Injury, Defamation cases and some Landlord and Tenant disputes the thresholds for each track have different values.

A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions. They can be contrasted with solicitors — the other class of lawyer in split professions — who have more direct access with clients, and may do transactional-type legal work. Barristers are rarely hired by clients directly but instead are retained (or instructed) by solicitors to act on behalf of clients.