The Judiciary

English law is divided into two parts – civil and criminal. There are also two types of courts dealing with civil and criminal jurisdictions.

Civil Courts

Civil actions involve two or more individuals in dispute. It is the function of the civil courts to adjudicate these disputes. Different types of disputes will require different forms of adjudication; some disputes will be more serious and complex than others. These differences are reflected in the court system; the jurisdiction of the courts is limited by the type of case and with the lower courts, by the amount of the claim.

1. Lower courts: County Courts

The lowest court in a civil action is a County Court. The jurisdiction of County Courts covers actions founded upon contract and tort (a civil wrong including negligence and personal injury claims); mortgage cases and actions for the recovery of land. The general limit in such cases heard before the county court is 25,000 pounds. Cases involving claims exceeding set limits are heard by one of the divisions of the High Court. Judges from the Crown Court, the High Court and all circuit judges have power to sit in the County Courts, but each court has one or more circuit judges assigned to it by the Lord Chancellor.

2. The High Court

The High Court deals with all the civil litigation which involves claims of more than a set figure (50,000 pounds), and some criminal cases. This court is divided into the Chancery Division, the Queen’s Bench Division and the Family Division. The largest division is the Queen’s Bench Division which deals with the great bulk of ordinary civil cases, for example, claims for damages for serious personal injuries, commercial claims, contracts between businessmen, shipping claims arising out of collisions at sea; claims against governmental and other public authorities who have acted beyond their powers in some unauthorized or illegal manner. This court is presided over by the Lord Chief Justice.

The Chancery Division covers such matters as the administration of estates of deceased persons, the sale of property, trusts, company law, bankruptcy, partnership and patents.

The Family Division is concerned with domestic and matrimonial cases relating to child custody, guardianship, adoption, maintenance and divorce. The head of the Family Division is the President.

All the work in this court is done by single high court judges, sitting alone, who are attached to one division but may be transferred to any other division.

1. Find the answers to the following questions.

1. What is a civil action?

2. What is the lowest court in a civil action?

3. What does tort mean?

4. What matters are dealt with by the County Courts?

5. Do all judges have power to sit in the County Courts?

6. What is the function of the High Court and its three divisions?

7. How many judges sit in the High Court?

2. Match the words on the left with the definitions on the right.

1. adjudicate a) the legal right or duty to take care of smb.;

2. matrimonial matters b) physical harm to a living being;

3. adoption c) legal responsibility for the care of a child

whose parents have died;

4. wrong d) to make an official decision about who is

right in a disagreement;

5. claim(s) e) the proceeding against someone in a court

action;

6. custody f) the act that is not legal, honest;

7. injury g) property which is transferred to one or more

owners;

8. litigation h) demand for a sum of money, compensation;

9. trust(s) i) the act when a child has legally become part

of a family which is not the one in which he

was born;

10. guardianship j) cases connected with marriage.

3. Choose proper words from the list and complete the following sentences.

wrong, injury, claim, litigation, adjudicate, custody, matrimonial cases

1. Their purpose is to __________ disputes between employers and employees.

2. You can make a __________ on your insurance policy.

3. __________ are a significant area of work of the Family Division.

4. Who will have __________ of the children?

5. The company has been in __________ with its previous auditors for a full year.

6. It is time to forgive past __________ if progress is to be made.

7. In the crash he suffered severe __________ to the head and arms.