The Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal is seen as the core of our judicial system within England and Wales. The Court will hear civil cases of the highest form and family justice. When a person feels they have been wrongly convicted or their sentence has been too harsh then they are now capable of being heard at the Court of Appeal, criminal division, where more senior judges, known as Lord Justices of Appeal, will listen to their case.
The High Court of Justice
This court has unlimited civil jurisdiction and also has an appeal function from lower courts and tribunals. The High Court is divided into three divisions, each with a specialist function. The first of these is the Queen's Bench Division, which deals mainly with cases in contract and tort. The High Court represents England and Wales. This court deals with the most high priority cases, it also has a supervisory jurisdiction over all the minor courts and tribunals. Appeals in the High Court in civil matters lie in the Court of Appeal and then go to the House of Lords.
Queens Bench Division
The Queen’s Bench Division Court is the most important Divisional Court and has special supervisory powers which are used to check whether public authorities, ministers, inferior courts, such as County courts and Magistrates Courts and tribunals are exceeding their powers.
Crown Court
The Crown Court hears all indictable criminal cases as well as those triable either way that are sent for trial at the Crown Court by the Magistrates. The total number of case tried at the Crown Court each is year is approximately 80,000. The court sits in around 90 towns and cities throughout England and Wales and has three different types of judges dealing with the cases which are High court judges, Circuit judges and part-time judges called Recorders.
County Court
County Court deals only with civil matter and only hears cases with a financial value of £50,000 or below. Most of these cases will be heard by a District Judge or Circuit Judge. Most civil matters within England are only decided by a judge there are no juries. Claims under £5,000are dealt within the County Court under the small claims track, claims between £5,000 and £15,000 that are capable of being tried within one day are allocated to the fast track and claims over £15,000 are to the multi track.
Magistrates Court
These are local courts; almost all towns will have at least one, whilst big cities will have around seven. These courts deal with cases that are only connected within its area, most of the cases are criminal but they also hear some civil cases.
European Union
The European Union it made up of different countries called ‘member states’ there are 27 different independent sovereign countries. Within the EU there are 3 major institutions which are –
- The European Parliament, which represents the EU’s citizens and is directly elected by them.
- The Council of the European Union, which represents the individual member states.
- The European Commission, which seeks to uphold and interests of the Union as a whole.
Role of Law Making within the European Union
Decision making at the European Union (EU) involves European institution, in particular the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. The European Commission is the one that proposes new legislation, but it is the Council and Parliament that pass the laws. All of the rule and procedures for the EU making decisions is laid down in the treaties. The three main procedures are ‘consultation’ ‘assent’ and ‘co-decision’.