THE LAW
The United Kingdom has three legal systems:
o English law (applies in England and Wales) - based on common-law principles
o Northern Ireland law (applies in Northern Ireland) - based on common-law principles.
o Scots law (applies in Scotland) - is a pluralistic system based on civil-law principles, with common law elements dating back to the High Middle Ages.
Sources of Law:
o Legislation:
o Act of Parliament
o Orders (decisions taken by ministers)
o By-laws (decisions taken by local government)
o Common Law – is an ancient law, derived from custom and interpreted in court by judges.
o European Union Law – economic and social matters
CRIMINAL CHARGES
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom and it’s responsible for:
o public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences;
o criminal cases (beyond the investigation which is the role of the police);
o giving advice to the police on charges to bring;
o authorising simple charges (such as begging);
o preparing and presenting cases for court (both in magistrates' courts and, increasingly, the Crown Court).
The CPS is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The CPS is divided into 13 geographical Areas across England and Wales. Each Area is led by a Chief Crown Prosecutor (CCP) who is responsible for the provision of a high quality prosecution service in their Area.
THE COURTS OF ENGLAND AND WALES
o Magistrates’ Courts - is the lowest level of court.
o presided over by a tribunal consisting of two or more Justices of the Peace.
o dispenses summary justice, under powers usually defined by statute.
The tribunal presiding over the Court is commonly referred to simply as the Bench.
o Crown Courts – is the higher court of first instance in criminal cases. The Crown Court carries out four principal types of activity:
o appeals from decisions of magistrates;
o sentencing of defendants committed from magistrates’ courts;
o jury trials;
o the sentencing of those who are convicted in the Crown Court, either after trial or on pleading guilty.
o County Courts - is a court based in a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions within a country. The Country Court deal with civil cases like:
o wills (inheritance of property)
o mortgage
o bankruptcy
o discrimination (sex, racial)
o more complicated divorces.
o High Court of Justice – is deals at first instance with all high value and high importance cases, and also has a supervisory jurisdiction over all subordinate courts and many tribunals. The High Court has three main divisions:
o the Queen's Bench Division – deal with maritime law, company law and commercial law.
o the Chancery Division – deal with business law, trusts law, probate law, land law, company law.
o the Family Division – deal with divorce, adoptions, guardianship, wills.
o The Court of Appeal - is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it. The Court of Appeal has two divisions:
o Criminal Division – hear criminal appeals from the Crown Court.
o Civil Division – hear civil appeals from Country Court.
o The Supreme Court of England and Wales - is the highest appeal court in almost all cases in England and Wales. Prior 2005 this role was held by the House of Lords. The Supreme Court is also the highest court of appeal for devolution matters, a role previously held by the Privy Council. The Supreme Court deals with only extremely important and complicated cases.
Juvenile Courts – is a tribunal having special authority to try and pass judgments for crimes committed by children or adolescents who have not attained the age of majority (lay magistrates).
Coroner Courts - determine the cause of death in situations where people have died in potentially suspicious circumstances, abroad, or in the care of central authority (coroners, lawyers, doctors).
JUDGES
Judges don’t engage in polities, only judges of inferior courts can be removed.
o Justices of the Peace are lay magistrates who sit in Magistrates’ Court and are not legally trained.
o Circuit Judges are judges who sit in the Crown and Country Courts.
o Judges of High Court are judges of the High Court of Justice, and represents the third highest level of judge in the courts. They cannot be dismissed.
o Justice are judges of The Court of Appeal and The Supreme Court.
Responsibility for the administration of justice:
o Lord Chancellor
o appoint judges for all types of courts
o deal with law procedure and administration of courts
o in the past – head of judiciary system
o Lord Chief Justice
o is the head of the judiciary system
o preside over the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal
o is the most important person in Court of Appeal
o in the past – the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales (after Lord Chancellor)
o Home Secretary
o is the minister in charge of the Home Office
o is responsible for: internal affairs, immigration, citizenship, policing, national security
o Prime Minister
o appoint judges
o The Attorney General
o bring sentences and point of law to The Court of Appeal
o The Solicitor General
o deputy of the Attorney General
o his/her duty is to advise the Crown and Cabinet on the law
o he or she can exercise the powers of the Attorney General in the Attorney General's absence.
LEGAL PROFESSION
BARRISTERS
o are specialists in advocacy
o represent individuals or organisations in court
o they are independent sources of legal advice
o can advise clients on their case
o they are hired by solicitors to represent a case in court
Inn of Court - professional associations for barristers. All barristers must belong to one association. There the candidate for barristers study law for 4 years.
Bar exam – an exam which candidate for barrister have to pass to work as a barrister.
Chamber of a barrister – a place where barristers work.
SOLICITOR
o pleads cases before the court
o carry on most of the office work in law
o prepares and delivers the client’s instructions to a barrister
o confer with clients
o give advice
o draft documents
o conduct negotiations
o prepare cases for trial
o retain barristers for advice on special matters or for advocacy before the higher courts
Firm of solicitors – a place where candidate for solicitor learn and work.
Law society – a place where candidate for solicitor take an exam.
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