About Eric Frank Expertise Ex police detective with 15 years recent experience in the criminal law. Can assist with questions as to how it affects victims and persons suspected of crime. Can also assist as to whether a criminal prosecution is the best or most effective method to pursue. Experienced in Criminal court procedure.
Please note: 99% of the questions I am asked result in the same answer: GET A LAWYER. Trust me on this, if I was in danger of losing my liberty, I would not be looking for advice on the internet, I would GET A LAWYER!
Question Hi Eric,
in the UK could you tell me please, what is the difference between the Civil Court, Crown Court, and Supreme Court (Indeed, do we have a Supreme Court in the UK)?
Does a Judge preside over the cases in each of the Courts? And finally, is it possible for a hearing in a Civil Court to go to Crown Court and/or Supreme Court, and a hearing in a Crown Court to go to a Supreme Court? Under what circumstances would these occur?
Thank you very much for your help and time.
Kind Regards
Gary
Answer Hi,
In the UK, there are two (with some specialised exceptions) forms of court. First, the criminal court system consists of
1. Magistrates court - this is presided over by 3 lay magistrates with the assistance of a law trained clerk. In some instances, mainly in larger cities, the court can be presided over by a Stipendary Magistrate who is a lawyer, and acts alone. There is no jury in a magistrates court. This court deals with a] petty summary offences for which there is no provision for trial by jury or those that the defendant has elected to choose summary, rather than jury trial and b] the committal of the more serious offences to Crown court, ie. ensuring there is a 'prima facie' case to answer.
2. Crown court - this is the court that most people associate with TV and film, this has a Judge (or sometimes, again in larger cities, a Recorder - a senior lawyer) who controls the proceedings, a jury, prosecuting and defending Barristers. This court deals with any and all offences up to and including murder. [The 'Old Bailey' aka Central Criminal Court, is in fact merely a Crown Court in fancy clothes]
3. The Court of Appeal - deals with appeals from the Crown courts, which themselves deal with appeals from Magistrates courts. These have a panel of 3 or 5 judges and no jury.
4. The House of Lords [equivalent to a Supreme Court], this, when hearing cases on appeal is similar in make up to the courts of appeal, and is the final stop on the road. The House of Lords is the only court with a dual function, ie. it hears both civil and criminal cases and also deals with questions of constitutional law.
Civil courts - deal only with cases such a libel, trademark infringement, debtors etc that do not involve offences against the criminal law, they are presided over by a judge and may, or may not have a jury, depending on the case being heard. Appeals from this court also go to the Appeals court and thence to the House of Lords.
There are other types of court such as Coroner's court, Admiralty Court, Small Claims court etc etc, but the ones mentioned above are the main judicial branches of government.
Hope this helps, if you need more or something specific, please submit a follow up.
Regards, Eric
