2.6 The County Court （exclusively civil jurisdiction）：

（a） Personnel：

– Circuit Judges assisted by

– District Judges （known as Masters in the High Court）

（b） Jurisdiction：

– Tort and Contract cases

– Undefended divorces （even where there are disputes concerning custody and finance）

– Probate matters

– The Small Claims Procedure will deal with claims up to £5，000. This procedure is designed to be quicker and less formal and less expensive than a County Court hearing. It is basically an arbitration conducted by a district judge.

2.5 The Crown Court：

（a） Personnel：

– High Court Judges （where offence is serious）

– Circuit Judges

– Recorders

（b） Jurisdiction：

– Trials on indictment （i.e. not guilty pleas）

– Sentencing of offenders who have pleaded guilty to indictable offences

– Appeals from Magistrates Courts

– Sentencing of offenders “committed for sentencing” by the Magistrates

NB： Role of jury is to establish facts and decide on the guilt or otherwise of the offender. Role of judge is to explain the relevant law to the jury and to decide on sentence.

2.3 The Court of Appeal：

（a） Divided into 2 divisions ：‑

– civil and

– criminal

（b） Personnel – Lord Justices of Appeal. 3 will usually sit on an appeal.

– civil division – Master of the Rolls is chief judge

– criminal division – Lord Chief Justice of the criminal division

（c） Jurisdiction – purely appellate. Hears appeals from

– all 3 divisions of the High Court， the divisional court， the EAT， Lords Tribunal and Transport Tribunal

– the Crown Court

– the County Court （except for certain appeals in regard to family and bankruptcy matters）

2.4 The High Court：

（a） Divided into 3 divisions：

– Queens Bench Division

– Family Division

– Chancery Division

（b） Personnel – High Court Judges （Puisne judges）：

– QBD – Lord Chief Justice = chief judge

– Family Division – President = chief judge

– Chancery Division – Nominally Lord Chancellor – in practice

Vice‑Chancellor

（c） Queens Bench Division jurisdiction：

– Contract， Tort and other general civil matters without limit as to value （usually above £15，000） includes specialist courts such as the Commercial and Admiralty Courts.

– The making of prerogative writs and orders

The Divisional Court of the QBD hears appeals on points of law from the Magistrates and Crown Courts.

（d） Family Division jurisdiction：

– Defended divorces and matters under the Domestic Violence and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1976

– Matters relating to Childrens Act 1989 and Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990

– Appeals in regard to family matters from the County Court

（e） Chancery Division jurisdiction：

– Trusts

– Tax

– Company Law

– Probate

– Insolvency

– Companies Court and Patents Court are part of the Chancery division

2.2 The House of Lords：

（a） Highest UK court;

（b） Personnel – Lords of Appeal in Ordinary （Law Lords） 。 5 will usually sit on an appeal;

（c） Jurisdiction – purely appellate. Hears appeals from ：‑

– Both divisions of the Court of Appeal

– The divisional court of the Queens Bench Division of the High Court

– The High Court by “leap‑frog procedure”;

（d） On appeals from some Commonwealth Courts and Channel Islands the court sits as “The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council”。