English Legal Systems AS1
Hugo Chow
, Introduction
This report will contain several fact sheets to demonstrate a clear understanding
of the jurisdiction of Criminal and Civil Courts. The report provides different
outcomes to each case while using appropriate case references and research
case examples to justify the reason for that specific outcome for the case.
Using case examples,
accurately apply and
explain the jurisdiction of
civil courts
Civil law, often known as private law, tries to cover a variety of areas, including
family law, negligence, contracts, property law, and employment probate. Civil
law is primarily concerned with safeguarding people' rights. Their privacy rights,
in particular. An injury to a person or a third party is a perfect illustration. Minor
sanctions, such as community service, fine payment, or repair work, would be the
result of civil law.
The purpose of Civil Law is to solve disagreements between businesses or
individuals. The punishments within these civil cases are dependent on how
severe they were to the other individual or organization. An example of this,
could be compensations being given out due to damages to a property. The
cases are taken to court by an individual making a complaint will be responsible
for taking the case to court by filling in legal documents and getting a decision.
The burden of proof is very important in Civil cases as the judge will need to
decide with the information provided and based on this, they will need to be over
50% confident that the defendant is at fault.
The cases in Civil Law are brought in by private citizens or companies. The two
parties within the civil law cases are known as the claimant which is the individual
who is making the complaint and the defendant who will try to prove themselves
as innocent. There are also few civil law parties such as the plaintiff, petitioner,
cross complaint, cross defendant, defendant, and respondent.
County Court
1
, The County court is a local court that hears civil claims. It is usually the first port
of call for a civil matter and is only used for first-instance trials. They only deal
with cases with a value of less than £50,000, and they only deal with fast-track
cases and lesser claims. A circuit court or a district judge will review the case and
determine the judgement as well as which party is accountable, based on the
facts presented. It is also the UK's lowest court. This is seen in case example
number 2, as Mary is trying to resolve a disagreement with Bill, and she is
looking for £8000 in personal injury claims. As the compensation she seeks is
£8,000, the claim's first instance trial will be place in a county court because it is
less than £25,000, which means that the first instance trial will take place in a
county court, and that it will only move to the High Court if the County Court's
ruling is overturned.
High Court
First-instance matters that are multitrack, complicated, and high-value are more
likely to wind up in the supreme court. They also handle appeals from the county
court. The Family Division, Chancery Division, and Queen's Bench Division are
the three divisions that make up the high court. Cases involving a family under
the Children Act 1989, marriage cases, and uncontested grants of probate are
heard by the Family Division. Chancery Division deal with cases such as
bankruptcy and patents within the courts. Personal injury claims and tort lawsuits
are handled by the Queen's Bench Division. In the justice system, the High Court
comes after the County Court. This is because it is a civil matter involving an
divorce, as in the case study 3 where Jane wants a divorce from Sarif and this
would most likely be handled in the Family Division of the High Court.
Court of Appeal
Citizens can appeal judgments of lower courts to higher courts in the civil division
of the court of appeal, depending on the facts of the case. They can only appeal
on grounds including the facts, the duration of the punishment, or the legislation,
and they have 21 days to appeal against the initial decision. The majority of the
judges in the court make judgments, and they may agree with all or part of your
appeal, dismiss it, or order a retrial. The civil matters are taken to the Court of
Appeal from the Crown or County Courts. If the accused still wishes to challenge
the court of appeals' decision, they must first get authorization to appeal from the
supreme court or the court of appeals. The Court of Appeal is the country's
second highest court within the UK.
Supreme Court
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