English Court System in United Kingdom
Early History of the English Court System
When the Normans conquered England in 1066, they imposed the Carolingian judicial system on the Anglo-Saxons. In the long struggle between king and landed nobility that ensued, one of the principal weapons of the Crown was the Curia Regis (king’s court), which was held wherever the royal household was situated. The principal judicial strongholds of the nobility were the manorial courts, chiefly the courts baron and courts leet. Judicial supremacy eventually was won by the Crown, and, since the reign of King Edward I, in the 13th century, English courts have been organized on a centralized basis.
Before this victory of the Crown, however, King John had been compelled in 1215 to sign the Magna Carta, which initiated the gradual separation of judicial from executive and legislative governmental powers. The terms of this charter of liberty established the Court of Common Pleas as a court of a fixed location to try cases initiated by commoners against other commoners.
The process of separation continued during the reign of Edward I with the establishment of the Court of Exchequer as a tribunal having exclusive jurisdiction over revenue cases arising out of unpaid debts to the Crown and the establishment of the Court of King’s Bench, or the Court of Queen’s Bench, as the supreme appellate tribunal of the realm, presided over by the monarch. The Court of King’s, or Queen’s, Bench also was invested with original jurisdiction over both civil and criminal cases and thus encroached on the jurisdiction of the Court of Common Pleas.
In fact, the jurisdictions of all three courts overlapped and were not entirely differentiated until much later. These courts later became bulwarks in the defense of civil and political liberties against the Crown.
Another momentous innovation during the reign of Edward I was provision for doing justice in situations in which the common law failed to afford a remedy to aggrieved litigants. This supplemental system of justice was administered by the Crown through the lord chancellor and was called chancery, or equity, jurisprudence.
In the centuries after the signing of the Magna Carta, Parliament acquired appellate jurisdiction over both civil and criminal cases. This function was subsequently confined to the House of Lords and has survived to the present day. In 1701, Parliament enacted legislation establishing tenure of office for judges and made their removal from office conditional on the assent of Parliament, thus completing the separation of judicial from executive and legislative governmental powers. Like many other features of the English judicial system, this separation of powers was incorporated into the courts of the New World.
Later Developments in the British System
Administrative and structural changes in important but secondary features, such as those wrought by the Judicature Act of 1873, have been made. See more about the History of English Court System here
Court System in the United States
See Court System in the United States and Court System in that country.
Later Developments in the British System
Administrative and structural changes in important but secondary features, such as those wrought by the Judicature Act of 1873, have been made. See more about the History of English Court System here
Background
The role and functions of each court within the UK system European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice is situated in Luxembourg and within the community it is their Supreme Court. The court consists of 15 judges from different member states; each of these judges will be included in this court for six years. This court guarantees that the treaties are interpreted and applied correctly by other EU institutions and by the member states. House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house or the secondary house of the Parliament in the UK and can be found in the Palace of Westminster. The Crown, The House of Commons and The House of Lords together complete the Parliament. The House of Lords consists of 731 seats and is currently outnumbering. The Lords have the power to reject any bill that may be passed through the House of Commons.
Criminal Justice System
The role of the judicial system is to protect the innocent, to pass judgement and to serve an appropriate form of punishment on convicted felons. This may include receiving a custodial sentence, serving a specified amount of community service or incurring a disqualification or penalty fine. All criminal cases in the UK initially commence in the same system. However the severity and details of the offence will affect the following: which court the accused may be trialled and sentenced in, the criminal proceedings and the level of punishment received.
The criminal court system has two rankings. The lower is the Magistrates’ Court and the higher ranking is the Crown Court. The Youth Court established in 1992 is a separate less formal division of the Magistrates’ Court. It was set up for the trial and punishment of minors aged between ten and seventeen years old.
Author: Annonym
More Entries about Courts
Early Courts
See Early Courts.
Western European Tribunals
See Western European Tribunals
Later Developments in the British System
Court System in the United States
See Court System in the United States and Court System in that country.
Other World Developments
For France, Islamic world and other Middle Eastern and Asian countries, see Courts in General
See Also
MPEPIL: International courts and tribunals
Unconstitutional Constitutional Courts
List of United Kingdom Court Reports
List of Courts
List of Irish Courts
Appointment of Judges
English Legal System Milestone Cases
Contributed By:
William O. Douglas, M.A., LL.B., LL.D. Late Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. “Courts,” Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia
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