Law Civil Courts – Recap

• What is an example of a civil case?
  o Divorce, insult, family law, forgery of a document, employment, human right
• What are the names and values of each of the civil court tracks?
  o Small claims – under 10.000, Personal under 1.000
  o Fast Track – 10.000 to 25.000
  o Multi Track – 50.000 to high court
  o Summed up they all belong to the county court
• What are the names of the three divisions of the High Court?
  o QBD, FD, CD
• What are the names of the courts at the top and bottom of the civil court hierarchy?
  o Supreme Court at the top
  o Tribunals at the bottom
  Criminal law sets out types of behavior which are forbidden and risk punishment
  A person who commits a crime is said to have offended

Summary

• Speeding
• Common assault
• Court clerk
• Magistrates known as lay people (no experience in law)
• Least serious
• Solicitor
  Triable either way
• Theft
• Crown Court
• Court Clerk
• Middle range
• Solicitor
• Judge
• Barrister
• Actual body harm
  Indictable
• Grievous bodily harm
  Manslaughter
• Barrister
• Crown Court
• Judge

1. Bail must be considered
2. The defendant need to seek legal advice
3. Must appear initially at the magistrates
4. The legal advisors will confirm D’s Name, address and date of birth

Which court?

1. Wilma has been charged with the murder of Miss Hart
2. Sophie has been charged with stealing 60 malteaser reindeers from Tescos
3. Jim has been charged with driving without insurance
4. Kevin has been charged with stealing 50.000 Euro from his gran, who he was looking after
5. Bob has pled guilty to causing actual bodily harm by chopping off Lily’s ponytail

6. Susan has been charged with burglary, for breaking into a house and stealing the contents

7. Crown Court

8. Magistrates
9. Magistrates
10. Crown Court
11. Crown Court
12. Crown Court

Key vocabulary

First Instance
A court which hears cases for the first time
Appellate
D is appealing against the conviction
Quash
Replace the conviction with an acquittal
Leave
Permission to appeal. Either from the court they are in, or the court they wish to appeal to
Point of law
Interpretation by the judge
Affirm
Uphold their conviction

What does the magistrates court deal with?
What category of offence do they hear?
What is the difference about the youth court compared to the main court?
What age are the defendants?

• Over 400 in England and Wales, almost one in every town
• In criminal cases Magistrates Courts try all summary cases and some triable either way cases (97 Percent of all cases)
• Magistrates Courts also deal with preliminary hearings, side matters connected to criminal cases (arrest warrants and bail applications) and try cases in the youth court (ages 10-17)
• Youth Court (10-17 years old), main court (18 and older)

Crown Court

How many courts are there in England and Wales?
What cases do they hear?

• Is 90 of them throughout England and Wales
• First Tier – exist in main centres throughout the country, along with a High Court. Deal with all categories of crime
• Second Tier – Crown Court only. Deal witg all categories of crime
• Third Tier – most serious cases (murder, manslaughter) not usually tried here.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission

Who are they?
What do they do?

• Is an independent public body set up in 1997.
• They review possible misscarriages of justice in the criminal courts of England, Northern Ireland and Wales and refer appropriate cases to the appeal courts
• They are completely independent and impartial and do not represent the prosecution or the defence.

• The prosecution appealed

• Court of Appeal

• Appeals to supreme Court

• Man admit murder in first UK double jeopardy case

• 15 years after Billy Dunlop was cleared

Civil Law

• The standard of proof is on a ‘balance of probabilities’.
• Civil claims arise when an individual or business believes their rights have been infringed in some way.
• Main areas of civil law include contract law, law of tort, family law and employment law.
• A case could involve claiming compensation for injuries (tort law).
• It could be a company claiming money is owed to them (contract law).
• Or it could be a decree of divorce for a marriage that has failed (family law).

• Copy of a claim form served – court issues a claim form at the claimant’s request.

• Defendant sends defence – Several routes:

• ­Can admit and pay full amount
• ­
• ­Can dispute claim – send an acknowledgement of service (N9) or a defence within 14 days
• ­
• ­Does nothing – claimant can make an order with the court for D to pay the money