Everything about High Court Of England And Wales totally explained
» For the Cameroonian court by this name, see High Court of Justice (Cameroon), for the Israeli court of this name, see Supreme Court of Israel. The Court of First Instance of Hong Kong was also known as the High Court of Justice before 1997.:
For the English Civil War court, see High Court of Justice for the trial of Charles I.
The
High Court of Justice (usually known more simply as the
High Court) is, together with the
Crown Court and the
Court of Appeal, part of the
Supreme Court of England and Wales (which under the
Constitutional Reform Act 2005, is to be known as the
Senior Courts of England and Wales). It is also known as the
High Court of England and Wales and abbreviated by
EWHC.
It deals at
first instance with all the most high value and high importance cases, and also has a supervisory jurisdiction over all subordinate courts and tribunals. Appeal from the High Court in civil matters lies to the Court of Appeal and thence to the
House of Lords, except when the High Court is sitting as a
Prize Court when appeal lies to the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
The High Court is based at the
Royal Courts of Justice on
The Strand, in central
London. However, it also sits as 'District Registries' all across England and Wales and virtually all proceedings in the High Court may be issued and heard at a district registry. It is headed by the
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. By convention, all of its male judges are made
Knights Bachelor, while all of its female ones are made
Dames Commander of the British Empire.
The High Court is split into three main divisions: the
Queen's Bench Division, the
Chancery Division and the
Family Division. The Supreme Court Costs Office is the part of the High Court that deals with legal costs and falls outside these divisions.
Most proceedings in the High Court are held before a single judge, but certain kinds of proceedings, especially in the Queen's Bench Division, are assigned to a Divisional Court (for example a bench of two or more judges).
Queen's Bench Division
The Queen's Bench Division — or King's Bench Division when the
monarch is a King — has two roles. It hears a wide range of contract law and personal injury/general negligence cases, but also has special responsibility as a supervisory court. Until 2005, the head of the QBD was the
Lord Chief Justice (currently
Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers). A new post of
President of the Queen's Bench Division was created under the provisions of the
Constitutional Reform Act 2005, leaving the Lord Chief Justice as President of the
Courts of England and Wales, Head of the Judiciary of England and Wales and Head of
Criminal Justice.
(External Link
) Sir Igor Judge became the first person to hold this office in October 2005.
(External Link) (External Link)
Queen's Bench Division judges sit in the Crown Court, hearing criminal cases (as do
Circuit judges and
Recorders). In addition, the Divisional Court of the Division hears appeals on points of law from
magistrates' courts and from
Crown courts which have heard appeals from magistrates' courts. These are known as Appeals by way of
Case Stated.
On behalf of the monarch, the Queen's Bench Division oversees all lesser courts and all government authority. Generally, unless other appeal processes are laid down in law, anyone who wants to challenge any decision of a lesser court, tribunal, government authority or state authority brings a claim for
judicial review in the
Administrative Court, a sub-division of the Queen's Bench Division. A single judge first decides whether the matter is fit to bring to the court (to weed out frivolous or unwinnable cases) and if so the matter is allowed to go forward to a full judicial review hearing with one or more judges.
Appeals from the High Court in civil matters lie to the
Court of Appeal (Civil Division); in criminal matters appeal from the Divisional Court lies only to the
House of Lords.
Sub-divisions of the Queen's Bench Division include the
Technology and Construction Court,
Commercial Court, the
Admiralty Court and the
Administrative Court.
Chancery Division
The Chancery Division deals with
business law,
trusts law,
probate law, and
land law in relation to issues of
equity. In addition it has specialist courts (the
Patents Court and the
Companies Court) within it which deal with
intellectual property and
company law matters respectively. All tax appeals are assigned to the Chancery Division. The head of the Chancery Division was known as the
Vice-Chancellor until October 2005. The title was changed under the provisions of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 to
Chancellor of the High Court. The first Chancellor (and the last Vice-Chancellor) is Sir
Andrew Morritt. One may read reported cases heard before the Chancery Division in the Chancery Division law reports.
Family Division
The Family Division deals with matters such as
divorce,
children,
probate and
medical treatment. Its decisions may concern life and death and are perhaps inevitably regarded as controversial. For example, it permitted a hospital to separate
conjoined twins without the parents' consent; and allowed one woman to have her life support machines turned off, while not permitting a husband to give his severely disabled wife a lethal injection with her consent. The High Court Family Division has jurisdiction to hear all cases relating to children's welfare and interest, and exercises an
exclusive jurisdiction in wardship cases. The head of the Family Division is the
President of the Family Division Sir Mark Potter. High Court Judges of the Family Division sit at the Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London, while District Judges of the Family Division sit at First Avenue House, Holborn, London.
The Family Division is comparatively modern, having been formed by the
Judicature Acts by combining the Admiralty Court and probate courts into the then
Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court, or
Wills, Wrecks and Wives as it was informally called. It was renamed the Family Division when the admiralty and probate courts were transferred to other divisions.
Judges
The judges in the High Court are known formally as
Justices of Her Majesty's High Court of Justice and informally as
High Court judges, and are styled formally and in judicial matters
The Hon. Mr(s) Justice (Forename) Surname. (The first judge with a particular surname is called, for example, "Mr Justice Smith", and all subsequent judges with that surname are distinguished as "Mr Justice John Smith", "Mr Justice Robert Smith", etc., and female judges are called, for example, "Mrs Justice Jones" regardless of marital status.) Socially they're known simply by the knighthood or damehood they acquire on appointment, without the prefix "The Hon.".
See also
List of High Court Judges of England and Wales.
Circuits
Historically, the source of all justice in England was the monarch. All judges sit in judgement on her behalf (hence why they've the royal coat of arms behind them) and criminal prosecutions made by the state are generally made on her behalf. Historically, local lords were permitted to administer justice in
Manorial Courts and other ways. Inevitably, the justice administered was patchy and appeals were made direct to the King. The King's travelling representatives (whose primary purpose was tax collection) acted on behalf of the king to make the administration of justice more even. The tradition of judges travelling in set areas of the country or 'circuits' remains to this day, where they hear cases in the district registries of the High Court.
Notes and references
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