The High Court acts both as a trial court, i.e. hearing cases for the first time, and an appeal court. It sits in London and in twenty-seven regional centres. For essentially administrative reasons, it is divided into three divisions: the Queen’s Bench Division (QBD), the Family Division and the Chancery Division. All three divisions can sit as a trial court where one judge sitting alone, having determined both the law and facts of a case, will pronounce a verdict. In addition, each division can sit as an appeal court hearing appeals from certain lower courts. When exercising its appellate jurisdiction, the court normally consists of three judges.
QBD is the largest division. Its workload mainly consists of matters relating to contract and tort, commercial law and admiralty. The court also hears appeals on points of law from the Magistrates’ Court and Crown Court through a process known as ‘case stated’. This involves an appeal from the lower court on the grounds that the decision of the lower court was wrong in law. The court concerned must state a case for the opinion of the QBD. Such a ruling will then determine the success or otherwise of the appeal. The Family Division has jurisdiction over matters relating to divorce, nullity, children, financial support and matrimonial property. As an appeal court, it hears appeals from the Magistrates’ Court and County Court in matrimonial and family matters. The Chancery Division has jurisdiction over matters relating to land, mortgages, trusts, revenue, companies and partnerships, administration of estates, insolvency and intellectual property. The court also hears appeals from the County Court in such matters as insolvency and land registration.
THE CROWN COURT
The Crown Court sits both as a trial court and an appeal court in criminal matters. As a trial court it deals with the more serious criminal offences. Cases are heard by a single judge sitting with a jury. As an appeal court, the Crown Court hears appeals against conviction and/or sentence from the Magistrates’ Court.
COUNTY COURT
The County Court exercises exclusively civil jurisdiction. It is essentially a local court, there being over 200 throughout England and Wales. Although it deals with broadly the same subject matter as the High Court, cases coming before the County Court tend to be less complex and involve smaller sums of money than those dealt with by the High Court.
MAGISTRATES’ COURT
There are over 1000 Magistrates’ Courts throughout England and Wales. Most magistrates are appointed from members of the general public and are termed ‘lay’ magistrates. Normally magistrates sit in benches of three and will be assisted by a legally qualified clerk to advise them as necessary on legal matters. A Magistrates’ Court exercises both criminal and civil jurisdiction. In the context of the former, it tries cases involving less serious offences. However, even the more serious criminal cases are begun in the Magistrates’ Court before being transferred to the Crown Court for trial. The civil jurisdiction of the Magistrates’ Court covers such matters as recovery of certain civil debts – for example, income tax and national insurance contributions, and the granting and revocation of liquor licences. It also exercises jurisdiction in a variety of family-related proceedings such as those involving domestic violence and/or occupation of the matrimonial home.
FRANCE
Since the Revolution, a strict demarcation line has been drawn between the institutions of state responsible for the administration of the country and the judiciary. It was long ago decided that legal issues involving the former should not fall within the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts but should instead be decided by a system of administrative courts. This separation of powers is still firmly in place today, with the result that France has two systems of courts: the courts of the ordre judiciaire (the ordinary courts), which deal with civil disputes between private individuals and also criminal matters; and the ordre administratif (the administrative courts), which have exclusive jurisdiction in all public law matters. What follows is an overview of the ordinary court system.
TRIBUNAL D’INSTANCE
The Tribunal d’instance, of which there are 450 throughout France, has jurisdiction over all litigation involving civil claims not exceeding approximately.3000 and not within the competence of courts of special jurisdiction (see below). A decision of a Tribunal d’instance involving a sum less than 1300 is final and cannot be appealed. The only exception to this is the right to appeal direct to the Cour de cassation on a point of law. Where the amount in dispute exceeds.1300, appeal lies to the Cour d’appel. Unlike other courts, whose decisions are collegiate, a Tribunal d’instance is presided over by a single judge.