High Court of Justice in United Kingdom
High Court of Justice
Introduction to High Court of Justice
High Court of Justice, in England and Wales, the highest court of first instance, that is, the court that decides cases rather than appeals. The ancestors of its various components are as old as the legal system itself. It assumed its present form in 1875.
The High Court is divided into three divisions: the Queen’s Bench, Chancery, and Family (formerly the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division). In general, different cases are assigned to each division according to the legal subject matter, although there are overlaps. The Queen’s Bench Division deals with civil matters such as disputes over contracts and torts (civil wrongs such as negligence). It also has a subdivision, the Crown Office List, which handles public law actions against the government and other public authorities. The Chancery Division deals with disputes over land, wills, and trusts, both charitable and noncharitable. Its jurisdiction may extend to other areas when the dispute is not so much about facts as the legal meaning of a document, since its procedure is well suited to purely legal argument. The Family Division deals with all matrimonial issues and all questions about children. Increasingly, it has also become the forum for cases raising major ethical issues, particularly in the area of medical treatment.
The Queen’s Bench Division may also hear appeals from magistrates’ courts and other inferior tribunals. These cases are heard by a Divisional Court, composed of two and occasionally more than two judges. A Divisional Court also sits for major public law cases.
In the past, a Division was composed of judges allocated almost at random from those appointed to the bench. It is now the case that judges will be allocated to the appropriate Division according to their experience in practice as a lawyer.” (1)
Leave a Reply