B.A BUSINESS STUDIES BUS361 BUSINESS LAW

Lecture 2 The Court Structure

 Magistrates’ Courts  The Crown Court  The Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court  The Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)

Role of Magistrates in Criminal Cases:  Hearing applications for bail  Committal proceedings  Trial  Appeals

 Cost  Weight of numbers  Local knowledge

 Inconsistency  Role of the clerk

 Courts Act 1971  Criminal Court of first instance  Trial by jury  Indictable offences  Offences traible either way  Appellate jurisdiction as well  Three tiers (First tier, Second tier, Third tier)

 Role of the jury trial – exaggerated  Why preserve two criminal courts of first instance?

 Three High Court Judges  Supervisory Role

 Formed in 1966  Appeals against sentence may be dealt with by two and other applications by one judge.  The court hears appeals of both fact and law.

 County Courts  Magistrates’ Court  High Court – Chancery Division  Family Division  Court of Appeal – Civil Division

 Created in 1846  Less important civil  C.L.S.A 1990 and the CIivl Procedure Rules  Contract, tort, especially personal injuries, property, divorce and other family matters, bankruptcy, admiralty, equity and race relations etc.

 Significant civil case load  Family cases  Licensing  Overlap with the county court and the High Court.

 Successor to the Chancellor’s court, dispensing equity.  Claims - property, trusts, wills, partnerships, revenue, contentious probate and bankruptcies are heard.  Two specialist court, Patent and Companies.

 Created in 1970  It hears divorce cases and ancillary matters and Children Act cases.

Hears appeals concerning civil law and family justice from the High Court, Tribunals and certain cases from the County Courts.

 In 2009, the Supreme Court replaced the House of Lords as the highest court in England, Wales and Northern Ireland  F inal court of appeal in the UK for civil cases  It hears appeals in criminal cases from England, Wales and Northern Ireland  Appeals are normally heard by 5 Justices but there can be as many as 9  Cases of public and/or constitutional importance  Reasons for creation

 European Court of Justice  European Court of Human Rights

 Alternatives to Courts  History  What are tribunals?  Status  Appeals  Controls of the tribunals

 Speed  Cost  Informality  Flexibility  Specialization  Relief of congestion in the ordinary courts  Awareness of policy  Privacy

 Lack of openness  Unavailability of legal aid  Involvement of interested parties  Reasons for decisions not always given  Too complex  Lack of accessibility  Problems with controls over tribunals

Most formal and established type of Alternative Dispute Resolution

 Cost  Accessibility  Speed  Expertise  Conciliation of the parties

 Imbalance of power  Lack of legal expertise  No system of precedent  Enforceability

Thank you for your attention!