BEK Chapter 18: The Courts and the Machinery of Justice
INTRODUCTION
Manner of appointment of judges & measures designed to protect their independence
Steps taken to ensure litigants have right to fair trial, and circumstances in which that right
may collide with rights of others
Baroness Hale – essential qualities for the judiciary
o Independence, intelligence, integrity, industry
Role of judiciary
o Interpret and apply the law in the resolution of disputes
Role of executive in the administration of justice
o Lord Chancellor
o Ministry of Justice
o Procedures for prosecution of offenders
Constitutional Reform Act 2005
o Designed to reinforce both the rule of law and the independence of judiciary
o Principle that the judicial function should in institutionally distinct from the
legislative function, and that the highest court should not be based in legislature
THE COURTS
United Kingdom
3 court systems: England and Wales; Scotland; Northern Ireland
Each system is separate from others, though judges and senior practitioners from all three
are eligible for appointment to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Eligible for appointment to ECJ and European Court of Human Rights
Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007
Wide range of tribunals set up to resolve disputes of various kinds, in whose proceedings
judges of the civil and criminal courts do not play a prominent part
Tribunals system has been radically reformed and greatly streamlined by this Act
Courts of Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction
Civil Jurisdiction
o High Courts (Judges sit in three divisions: Queen’s Bench, Chancery, Family)
Deals with application for judicial review QBD
o Court of Appeal (Judges sit in civil divisions)
Appeal cases from lower courts leave to appeal to supreme court
thereafter
o HC + CA + Crown Court = Senior Courts in England and Wales
Criminal Jurisdiction
o First instance summary trial = magistrates courts
o Jury trials = crown court
o Criminal appeals = Court of Appeal, Criminal Division leave for appeal to Supreme
Court
INTRODUCTION
Manner of appointment of judges & measures designed to protect their independence
Steps taken to ensure litigants have right to fair trial, and circumstances in which that right
may collide with rights of others
Baroness Hale – essential qualities for the judiciary
o Independence, intelligence, integrity, industry
Role of judiciary
o Interpret and apply the law in the resolution of disputes
Role of executive in the administration of justice
o Lord Chancellor
o Ministry of Justice
o Procedures for prosecution of offenders
Constitutional Reform Act 2005
o Designed to reinforce both the rule of law and the independence of judiciary
o Principle that the judicial function should in institutionally distinct from the
legislative function, and that the highest court should not be based in legislature
THE COURTS
United Kingdom
3 court systems: England and Wales; Scotland; Northern Ireland
Each system is separate from others, though judges and senior practitioners from all three
are eligible for appointment to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Eligible for appointment to ECJ and European Court of Human Rights
Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007
Wide range of tribunals set up to resolve disputes of various kinds, in whose proceedings
judges of the civil and criminal courts do not play a prominent part
Tribunals system has been radically reformed and greatly streamlined by this Act
Courts of Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction
Civil Jurisdiction
o High Courts (Judges sit in three divisions: Queen’s Bench, Chancery, Family)
Deals with application for judicial review QBD
o Court of Appeal (Judges sit in civil divisions)
Appeal cases from lower courts leave to appeal to supreme court
thereafter
o HC + CA + Crown Court = Senior Courts in England and Wales
Criminal Jurisdiction
o First instance summary trial = magistrates courts
o Jury trials = crown court
o Criminal appeals = Court of Appeal, Criminal Division leave for appeal to Supreme
Court
