Ehsan Kabir Solicitor | High Court as an Appeal Court

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• High Court as an Appeal Court

Ehsan Kabir Solicitor
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Objectives

• Draw a diagram of the civil court structure
  showing appeal route
• State the jurisdiction of each court
• Describe the appeal process

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Key Terms

• Claimant
• Defendant
• Jurisdiction
• Royal Courts of Justice
• Equity
• Access to Justice Act 1999
• Case stated
• Leave to Appeal
• Justices of the Supreme Court
• Delegated legislation
• Precedent
• Parties

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Outline of courts and appeal
Supreme Court
Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
High Court
Family Division
Queens Bench Division
Chancery Division
County Court (including the Small Claims Court)
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Courts of first instance

• Civil disputes between individuals, partnerships,
  companies and or local or national government
  departments
• May disagree on a number of areas (family, tort,
  contract etc)
• Dispute between claimant and defendant
• Claimant issues proceedings and claim sent to
  defendant for response

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Courts of first instance

• Two main civil courts
• County Court and High Court
• Magistrates mainly a criminal court but does have
  some civil jurisdiction
• These courts are known as Courts of First
  Instance
• Cases may be commenced and decided there
• If a party disputes the decision of the court -
  may ask a higher court to reconsider - known as
  appeal

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Courts of first instance

• 216 County Courts in England and Wales
• Hear lower level civil disputes
• Trials in High Court may be in London or one of
  26 High Court District Registers in England and
  Wales
• Hears higher level civil cases
• Does have jurisdiction to hear all types of civil
  dispute

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Magistrates Court

• Jurisdiction over most family matters
• But not divorce
• Recovery of unpaid council tax
• Charges for water, gas, and electricity
• Hears appeals from local authority about granting
  of licences for gambling and sale of alcohol

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County Court

• Deals with many types of civil disputes
• Including contract, tort, and divorce
• Civil cases divided into three types
• Small claims up to 5000 District Judges
• Fast track - 5000 - 25000 Circuit Judge
• Multi-track over 25000 Circuit Judge or
  transferred to High Court
• Plans to increase the amounts of claims heard by
  Small Claims Court and County Courts

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High Court

• Three divisions
• Queens Bench Division
• Family Division
• Chancery Division
• These are then sub-divided
• Courts where civil claims may be issued
• Court where appeals from lower courts will be
  heard
• 120 High Court Judges

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High Court Queens Bench Division

• Main court
• Deals mainly with contract and tort cases
• 74 High Court Judges sitting in this court
• Often heard in the Royal Courts of Justice in The
  Strand, London
• May be heard in one of High Courts District
  Registries
• Multi track cases may be heard here (due to
  money, complexity or certain type of case)

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High Court Family Division

• All aspects of family matters
• Divorce, related children
• Financial clams
• Adoption
• Care proceedings

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High Court Chancery Division

• Historically cases in which rule of equity could
  be used
• Modern version deals with
• Partnership disputes
• Company law
• Wills or trusts
• Bankruptcy sale of land
• Creation of mortgages
• 17 Judges sit in Chancery Division
• Heard at Royal Courts of Justices or at one of
  the eight Chancery centres around the country

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Appeal Hearings

• When one party unhappy with decision and requests
  a higher court to review the earlier decision
• Access to Justice Act 1999
• Majority of appeals only allowed if either
  original court or the appeal court has given
  authorisation
• Permission only granted if it involves a matter
  of importance or appeal has good chance of
  success

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High Court as an Appeal Court

• High Court both a Court of First Instance and an
  appellate court

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High Court Queens Bench Division

• Judicial review may review decisions made by
  local authorities and national government
  departments and tribunals
• Judicial review is about rules of fairness in
  decision making process
• Appeals on point of law by way of case stated
  from Magistrates or Crown Court
• These will be criminal cases
• Unlawful detention may apply for writ of habeas
  corpus

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High Court Family Divisional Court

• Hears appeals of decisions made from Magistrates
  and County Courts in respect of family matters

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High Court Chancery Divisional Court

• Hears appeals of decisions made in bankruptcy and
  insolvency cases originally decided in County
  Court

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The Court of Appeal

• 37 Judges (Lords Justice of Appeal) sit in CA
• Most senior is the Master of the Rolls
• CA has a Civil Division which specialises in
  civil cases
• Hears appeals from
• County Court (District or Circuit Judge)
• High Court in its capacity as a court of first
  instance
• High Court in its position as an appellate court
• The Employment Appeal Tribunal

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The Court of Appeal

• Appeals generally heard by 3 5 judges
• May be heard by 2 judges if parties agree
• In most cases a leave to appeal is required
• Not a rehearing but a review of the case
• Barristers in Court of Appeal hearings must
  provide advance copies of written and concise
  arguments to court and opposing barristers
• These are called skeleton arguments
• Court will look at lower court judges decision to
  see if the law has been interpreted properly

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The Supreme Court

• Constitutional Reform Act 2005 created the
  Supreme Court to replace House of Lords
• Change took place in 2009
• Supreme Court now has no connection with
  Parliament
• Has its own building, staff and budget
• Final court of appeal in civil law for England
• 12 judges called Justices of the Supreme Court

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The Supreme Court

• Hears about 200 cases per year
• Majority are Civil and are matters of general
  public importance
• Most cases heard by 3 5 judges
• Leave to appeal must be obtained from original
  court or Supreme Court itself
• Majority of appeals are from Civil Division of
  Court of Appeal

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The Supreme Court

• There is a leap-frog procedure provided by
  Administration of Justice Act 1969
• If High Court Judge certifies a case suitable for
  Supreme Court and Supreme Court agrees case will
  go straight from High to Supreme Court
• Case must be one on a point of law
• And one of public importance with regard to the
  statutory interpretation of an Act of Parliament
  or delegated legislation
• And one when the trial judge is bound by
  precedent of the Court of Appeal or Supreme Court

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The Supreme Court

• Court of Appeal has a civil and criminal division
• Hears more cases than the Supreme Court
• Court of Appeal hears 2000 cases per year (ten
  times more)
• Decisions in Court of Appeal are more likely
  therefore to have an impact on public
• Generally Supreme Court restricted in the cases
  it decides normally important legal issues

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Thank You