Civil courts.
1. The most important civil courts are the county courts, which deal with
minor cases, and the High Court, before which more serious matters are
brought.
2. Most appeals go to the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) in London.
3. The Civil Division can provide legal remedy against judgements of the
High Court and the county courts.
4. More than 500 county courts are grouped into over 50 circuits with at
least one judge for each such circuit.
5. The judges called 'circuit judges' since the Court Act of 1971 are
appointed by the Crown on the advice of the Lord Chancellor.
6. They must be barristers with at least seven years of experience.
7. The High Court of Justice is above the county courts.
8. It has several divisions.
9. The Chancery Division consists of the Lord Chancellor and ten judges,
and deals with questions of company law, bankruptcy, trusts, the
administration of the estates of people who have died, tax and some
other matters affecting finance and property.
10. The Family Division deals with divorce and questions arising out of
wills well as questions affecting children (adoption, or guardianship,
for example).
11. There are about 30 judges in the Chancery and Family Divisions of the
High Court of Justice, who deal only with civil cases, almost all in
London.
12. The Queen's Bench Division consists of the Lord Chief Justice and about
fifty other judges.
13. They divide their time between civil work in London, the Central
Criminal Court (or “Old Bailey"), also in London, and visits to the
provincial Crown Courts.
14. The High Court judges still wear robes and big wigs in court.
15. They are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the Lord
Chancellor, and retire at age 75.
16. The Queen's Bench Division with the widest jurisdiction is both the
main civil court for disputes involving more than 5,000 pounds, and the
main criminal court.
17. It also deals with suits for libel.
18. The Division also takes appeals from lower courts, mostly the
Magistrates' Courts.
19. The Queen's Bench Division includes a Commercial Court that specializes
in large commercial disputes, and an Admiralty Court for shipping cases.
20. These three divisions were unified into one High Court in a major
judicial reform in 1875, but they are still in many respects separate.
21. High Court judges try civil cases alone, except for a few cases like
defamation false imprisonment or fraud.
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