The Court of Appeal (civil division.)
The court of appeal is bound by the decisions of the House of Lords, but does not have to follow the decisions of any courts below it.
The court of appeal (criminal division.)
The criminal decision is also bound by the divisions of the House of Lords. However it does not have to strictly follow its own previous decisions if the liberty of the individual is at issue.
The High Court.
This court is bound by the decisions of the Court of appeal and the House of Lords. However a high court is not absolutely bound by the previous decision of another High court judge.
The Crown Courts, County courts and Magistrates’ courts.
- These courts are all bound by decisions of the House of Lords. They are not bound by their own previous decisions or by each other.
Civil Courts.
- House of Lords
- Court of Appeal (civil division)
- High Court,(QBD, family, chancery)
- County Court
- Magistrates’
Civil Procedures.
Civil law is about trying to solve disputes between various people and businesses. Unlike cases in the criminal system, which all starts in the Magistrates’ court, civil cases can start at any point.
In addition to the financial jurisdiction of the courts, the civil procedure rules 1999 sorts’ cases into one of three categories called tracks. These are;
-Small claims track- for claims up to £5,000, here people are encouraged to take their own case so costs are kept low.
- Fast Track- for claims between £5,000 and £15,000, there is a strict 30 week timetable that the cases are heard in. Costs are capped.
- Multi track- for claims over £15,000, time is allowed for complex and time consuming cases.
The Criminal Courts.
- House of Lords
- Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
- Queen’s Bench, Divisional Court
- Crown Court
- Magistrates’ Court.
Criminal Procedures.
Triable either way offences- An example of a triable either way offence is theft. For such offences a mode of trial hearing takes place. It takes place in the magistrates’ court, if the defendant pleads not guilty.
Indictable Offences.
For indictable offences, the criminal justice and public order act 1994 requires the magistrates’ court to conduct transfer for trial proceedings in order to immediately transfer the case to the crown court at the magistrates’ court.
The parliament Act 1911 originally restricted the ability of the House of Lords to delay legislation. It said that if two years had elapsed since the House of Lords had rejected a bill; the proposal legislation could become an act of parliament without having to refer to the House of Lords. The 1911 act was amended by the new 1949 act. It then reduced the period to one year. However the claimants argued that this was not permissible as the act had been passed without reference of the House of Lords. Accordingly as the Hunting Act 2004 was enacted relying upon the unlawful 1949 act, it was also unlawful. The Court of Appeal rejected the claim. It stated that both the Parliament Act 1949 and the Hunting Act 2004 was validly passed. The hunting Act had been passed without reference to the House of Lords after one year has elapsed, and the parliament acts had made a fundamental change allowing the consent of the House of Lords to be dispensed with, so long as there was a one year delay. Therefore, there were no grounds for arguing that it was an invalided act.
The Doctrine of Parliamentary Supremacy.
Parliament is the ultimate legal power in the UK. Parliament is the supreme law-maker. This is known as supremacy of parliament. A nineteenth century legal philosopher known as A V Dicey stated that parliamentary supremacy consisted of the following;
- Parliament can make any law on any subject, and can repeal any law;
- (except) Parliament cannot bind a future Parliament;
- Laws made by parliament cannot be challenged by the courts.
Anything enacted by parliament can be repeated or altered by a later one within a matter of months or years. The judges also have no power to ignore legislation. Judges are inferior to parliament as they can ensure that the legislation has been passed in the proper manner, and if it has, they must apply it.
Types of Bill.
A Bill is a draft statute. Here are they types of bills below:
- Public, A public act will affect all members of society
- Private, A private act will affect only one group or individual in society
Public bills derive from either:
- Government Bills; these bills are promoted and sponsored by the government, usually the relevant government minister.
- Private members bills; these are promoted and sponsored by individual MPs (backbench) or opposition MPs.
There are only 10 days out of the 110 days set aside for the public legislation are devoted to Private Members bills, only a few are successful. The ones that are tend to be supported by the government and sometimes even adopted by the government. An example of this is the Hunting Act 2004, or there is a matter of conscience, i.e. not political. An example of this would be the Abortion Act 1967.
Delegated legislation.
Delegated legalisation is where parliament delegates its law making powers to others. Other bodies may make law with the authority of parliament. This can be reconciled with the doctrine of parliamentary supremacy as law making is carried on with parliaments express sanction. An Act which grants others the power to make law is passed by parliament. This is known as an enabling Act, it is passed in the same way as any other Act of Parliament. This is needed because Parliament does not have time to debate and consider all the detail required to put an act into practice.
Types of delegated legislation.
Orders in council- permit the government through the Privy Council to make law.
Statutory Instruments- these are means in which government ministers introduce particular regulations under powers delegated to them by parliament under enabling legislation.
By-laws- these can be made by local authorities to cover matters for their area. An example of these would be local by-laws on parking restrictions.
The control of delegated legislation is made in two ways. By Parliament and by the Courts. When it is controlled by Parliament it goes through the enabling Act which sets the parameters within which the delegated legislation has to be made. Control by the courts, the courts can challenge delegated legislation on the grounds it is ultra vires. There are two types of ultra vires;
- Procedural Ultra Vires- Procedure laid down in the parent act have not been followed.
- Substantive Ultra Vires- The minister or local authority exceeds the powers given to him under the enabling act.
Ratio Decindendi and Obiter Dicta
If legal reasons are known for past decisions then precedent can only operate, but only when these reasons are known. There will be a judgement at the end of a case, this will be made by the judge giving the decision and more importantly, explaining the reasons for that decision. The judge is likely to give a summary of the facts of the case in a judgement; he will also review the arguments that are out to him by the lawyers in the case. After he has done that he will explain the principles of the law he is using to come to the decision. The ratio decindendi is to be found in the reasons for the decision. Based on the material facts of the case it can be defined as the principle of law. However do not expressly state the ratio decindendi in a case. In future cases the ratio of a case must be interpreted by judges, when deciding if the material facts are sufficiently similar to his present case.
Obiter dicta is another legal statement, reasoning or argument that is not based upon the specific facts of the case. It can be highly persuasive, but not binding. Obiter dicta is also known as “things said in passing”.
