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THE COURT SYSTEM
The Court System
The Courts of England and Wales are the criminal and civil law courts responsible for the administration of justice. They are constituted and governed by the Law of England and Wales and are subordinate to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom does not have one single court system. England and Wales have one system, Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own legal systems.
Superior Courts
The highest court is the House of Lords , which exercises the judicial function of Parliament. It is the most important superior court in almost all case in England and Wales: its decisions are binding on all other courts. Only the Law Lords hear the appeals both in civil and criminal cases. Its judicial functions were abolished by the “ Supreme Court of Judicature Act ” 1873. The “ Constitutional Reform Act ” 2005 has transferred its functions to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. It consists of the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice and the Crown Court.
Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal consists of 2 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. Its decisions are binding on all courts apart from the Supreme Court.
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice functions both as civil court of first instance and a criminal appellate court for cases from the subordinate courts. It consists of 3 divisions:
- The Queen’s Bench
- The Chancery
- The Family Division. The divisions of the High Court are not separate courts. Although particular kinds of cases will be assigned to each division, each division may exercise the jurisdiction of the High Court.
Crown Court
The Crown Court is a criminal court of both original and appellate jurisdiction. The Crown Court
is the superior English criminal court whose official name is the Central Criminal Court known as the Old Bailey.
The Crown Court is the only court in England and Wales that has the jurisdiction to try cases on indictment and when exercising such a role it is a superior court in that its judgments cannot be reviewed by the Administrative Court of the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court. The Crown Court sits in major towns of England and Wales.
Inferior Courts
The most commons subordinate courts in England and Wales are:
- The Magistrates’ Court
- Family Proceedings Courts
- Youth Courts
- County Courts.
Magistrates’ Courts
Magistrates’ Courts are the lowest courts of the first instance with limited civil and criminal jurisdiction. Magistrates’ Courts are presided over by a bench of Lay magistrates (or Justices of the Peace), sitting in each local justice area. There are no juries.
Lay magistrates are ordinary citizens merely chosen on the advice of a local appointing committee. They are unpaid volunteers. Half of them are women. However before deciding on the fate of the defendant, a JP is advised by a legally qualified Court Legal Adviser. He may impose either a limited fine or 12 months’ imprisonment. He may send the offender for trial and sentencing in a Crown Court when a penalty greater than can be given in Magistrates’ Courts is warranted. Alternatively a case may be heard by a District judge known as a single stipendiary magistrate, who will be a qualified lawyer.
Certain Magistrates’ Courts are designed as Youth Courts which deal only with charges against young persons.
In addition some Magistrates’ Courts are also a Family Proceedings Court which 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 as well as Youth courts where only the parties involved are admitted.
County Courts
County Courts are statutory courts with a limited civil jurisdiction to hear smaller civil cases. They are presided over by a circuit judge, who nearly always sits alone, although he may sit with a jury if either party wishes to have it. Appeals from the County Courts are heard in the Court of Appeal, Civil Division in London.
Special Courts and Tribunals
There are many other specialist courts often described as Tribunals rather than courts. Tribunal consist of a body of persons with power to decide claims or disputes. In many cases there is a
Relationship with the European Court of Human Rights
It is not possible to appeal the decision of any court in England and Wales to the European Court of Human Rights ( ECtHR ).
The ECtHR is an international court that hears complaints concerning breaches of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom but its decision will not change English law, and it is up to the Government of the United Kingdom to decide what action to take after an adverse finding. However, courts in England and Wales are not bound to follow a decision of the ECtHR.
CRIMINAL LAW AND CIVIL LAW
In the United Kingdom there is a basic distinction between criminal law and civil law.
Criminal law
Criminal law, as opposed to civil law, is the area of law that deals with crime and its consequences. A crime is any act or omission in violation of public law that is subject to punishment such as imprisonment or fine.
The state prosecutes those charged with a crime. This contrasts with civil law, which involves private individuals and organizations seeking to resolve legal disputes.
The police investigate a crime and may apprehend suspects and detain them in custody. The police, the criminal courts, and prisons are all publicly funded services, though the main focus of criminal law concerns the role of the courts.
Criminal law in the UK derives from a number of diverse sources. The definitions of the different acts that constitute criminal offences can be found in the Common Law (murder, manslaughter, public mischief and contempt) as well as in statutory offences.
Finally in the past crimes included both felonies, more serious offences such as murder or rape, and misdemeanours like petty theft, or speeding. This distinction has been abolished by the « Criminal Law Act » 1967 and substituted for arrestable and non arrestable offences.
Criminal law elements
The fundamentals of criminal law are known as the actus reus (a criminal act) and the mens rea (a criminal intent) of the crime. Actus reus is Latin for guilty act and is the physical element of committing a crime. Mens rea is another Latin phrase meaning guilty mind. A guilty mind means an intention to commit some wrongful act.
Categories of criminal offences
Procedurally, offences are classified as indictable and summary offences; summary offences which
are minor crimes may be tried in the Magistrates’ Court (over 90% of cases) without a jury. Indictable offences are serious crimes, such as murder, tried on indictment in the Crown Court before a jury.
Criminal law defences
There is a whole range of defences. There are however 7 general defences, which mitigate the defendant’s sentence:
- Insanity
- Automatism
- Mistake
- Self defence Are the first four.
Criminal procedure
The English system of justice based on Common Law is adversarial, which means that the parties are cross-examined in order to find out the truth. In criminal cases the burden of proof lies upon the prosecutor to persuade the judge or jury that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of every element of the crime charged.
A person accused for an offence, is arrested, is prosecuted, pleads guilty or not guilty; if the person pleads not guilty he or she is tried, and the result is a conviction or an acquittal. If convicted, a sentence follows.
Unlike the continental approach to a criminal case, the English system has a more formal care for the liberty of the individual, who is considered to be innocent until he is proved guilty.
Civil law
Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals and/or organizations in which compensation may be awarded to the plaintiff. The objectives of civil law are different from other types of law.
In Civil law there is the attempt to right a wrong, honour an agreement, or settle a dispute. However, Civil law may also refer to the system of law used in continental Europe such as France and Spain, as contrasted with Common Law used in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Civil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law, and more particularly by the “ Corpus Juris Civilis ” issued by the emperor Justinian ( 529 A.D .). The expression “ civil law” is a translation of
Or members of the European Assembly Or members of the Forces Or members of a religious society.
The law gives some people, finally, the right to be excused from jury service if they want to be excused. Lawyers for example, may be excused from serving or be unable to serve. The summoning officer can only excuse a person from jury service if there is a good reason for doing so. Consequently most people who fail to comply with a jury summons are fined.
Selecting a jury
On the date stated in the jury summons, the juror should attend court. First, he or she will form part of the jury panel, namely potential jurors. The jury for a case is selected by ballot and once the 12 jurors needed for a jury have been selected they take the juror’s oath. At any time before the oath is taken a juror can be challenged by either the defence or the prosecution. The defence can challenge up to 3 jurors without giving the reason. This is called vetting. Vetting should only be used in exceptional case involving national security and terrorism.
Number of jurors
A jury is normally composed of 12 ordinary people with no special knowledge, to act as impartial judges of the facts of a case. Their function is to decide on points of fact, that is to say, whether the accused committed the crime with which she/he is charged. Jurors are paid for each day of jury service. Jurors normally are asked to serve a period of 10 working days and during that time could sit on more than one case.
CRIMINAL CASES
Most cases in which a jury is used are criminal such as murder, rape, assault, burglary or fraud. Jurors must decide, based on the facts, whether a defendant is guilty or not guilty. In a jury trial, the jury is advised by the trial judge on matters of law and its function is then to apply the law to the facts and then decide the verdict which will be announced in open court.
English Common Law and the United States Constitution recognize the right to a jury trial to be a fundamental civil liberty or civil right, however most other nations do not recognize it as a fundamental civil rights, because jury trials evolved within common law systems rather than civil laws systems. Jury trials take place in the Crown Court.
TRIAL WITHOUT A JURY
Crown Court trial without a jury is permitted in cases of suspected jury tampering where there is evidence of a “real and present danger”.
CIVIL CASES
Sometimes jurors are needed in a civil case such as libel or slander. This does not happen often.
When it does, the trial will take place in the high court or a county court.
DIRECT VERDICT
The decision of a jury is called verdict. If after at least 2 hours the jury have not reached a verdict, the judge can call them back into the courtroom and direct them to leave the court room, deliberate, and return with only the verdict that he predetermined. Typically, the judge orders a direct verdict after finding that no reasonable jury can reach a decision to the contrary. After a direct verdict, there is no longer any need for the jury to decide the case. Although the jury continues to have much symbolic importance in the English legal system, in practice its role has been greatly diminished over recent years. Only a small percentage of cases is tried by jury today.
Accident and injury: compensation and prevention
Accidents can happen in a variety of situations. Where there is a duty of care ( dove c’è un dovere di cura ), then the injured party has grounds for a claim. Modern insurance practice (moderna pratica assicurativa ) makes it easier to satisfy the injured without financially crushing the injurer ( schiacciare il danneggiante ).
This area of law covers a number of different aspects:
- DAMAGES : Damages, in a legal sense, are the sum of the money the law imposes for a breach of some duty or violation of some right. Generally, there are 2 types of damages: Compensatory Punitive The former are intended to compensate the injured party for his loss or injury; the latter are awarded to punish a wrongdoer ( sono assegnati per punire un malfattore )
- INSURANCE : In the absence of insurance, 3 possible individuals bear the burden ( sopportano il peso ) of an economic loss:
- the individual suffering the loss;
- the individual causing the loss via negligence or unlawful conduct;
- or a particular party who has been allocated the burden ( a cui è stato assegnato l’onere ) by the legislature, such as employers Workers Compensation statutes.
- PRODUCT LIABILITY : Product liability ( responsabilità di prodotto ) refers to the liability of any or all parties along the chain of manufacture ( catena di fabbricazione ) of any product for damage caused by that product. This includes the manufacturer of component parts (at the top of the chain), an assembling manufacturer, the wholesaler ( il grossista ), and the retail store owner ( il proprietario del negozio al dettaglio ) (at the bottom of the chain). Products containing inherent defects that cause harm ( un danno ) to a consumer of the
