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The second main theme that I wanted to look at in relation to the
hierarchy of the courts, is the centrality
of the hierarchy to the Doctrine of Precedence.
So the first thing I want to talk about
relates to the kind of work that the courts do.
But also, to an important distinction between the appellate Courts, the courts
that hear appeals, and the trial Courts, the courts of first instance.
What's we're actually talking about when we talk about the
work of the courts, is not necessarily about a hierarchical relationship.
What it's really about is a division of labor.
In other words, a division of labor
between the civil Courts and the criminal Courts.
I think it fair to say, that this division
of labor is justified by a kind of specialization.
In other words, it stream lines, it
makes the system, the legal system operate better,
if civil courts deal primarily with civil matters,
and criminal courts deal primarily with criminal matters.
What we'll find when we look at this themes in detail in
a moment, is that none of these distinctions are hard and fast.
In other words, what we will find, when we look at the various courts is
that courts can have both appellate and a
trial jurisdiction, and also civil and criminal jurisdiction.
Which obviously is a little bit confusing.
And I'm sorry about that, it's just the way things are.
I think if you sat down and tried to
define, or create a system of courts, from logical
first principles, you probably wouldn't end up with the
system of courts that we have in the United Kingdom.
This is in part I think it reflects the history.
It reflects the fact that institutions of common law are historical.
They change over time.
Change is often quite messy.
So, I want to return to my first point which is, I suppose the point I
advertised about the division of labor, the distinction
between the civil courts and the criminal courts.
So I'm thinking, first of all, about civil courts and
I'm thinking about the distinction between civil courts and criminal courts.
So, civil court cases arise when an individual
or a business believes their rights have been infringed.
Civil justice in England and Wales is mainly dealt with in the county
courts, and in the case of more
substantial or complex cases the High court.
The jurisdiction, this is a technical word which relates
to the kind of case that a court can hear.
Jurisdiction then at the civil courts covers
a very wide range, from quite small or
simple claims for example, damaged goods, or recovery
of debt, to large claims between multinational corporations.
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Courts in the civil jurisdiction don't have the power to imprison a losing party
ordinarily, but not always, they award financial damages to the successful party.
The size of which depends on the circumstances of the claim.
The litigation, the matters that courts deal
with is structured in a particular way.
And that's true of civil courts, and that's true of criminal courts.
The theme I want to return to, because it's what I want
to talk about for the moment, is criminal courts, and criminal cases.
So we can get our heads around this basic distinction between the kind
of work civil courts do, and the kind of work that criminal courts do.
So here's a statement about criminal courts.
Criminal cases come to court after a decision has been made, usually
by the crown prosecution service, to prosecute somebody for an alleged crime.
In the vast majority of cases, magistrates in the magistrates' court hear
the evidence and, as a panel, make a decision on guilt or innocence.
For more serious cases, district judge in the magistrates' court
or a circuit judge in the Crown Court will hear evidence.
In the case of the latter, this will involve a jury trial.
Very serious criminal cases, such as murder or rape, may
be heard by a high court judge in the high court.
Although we're making a distinction between civil
and criminal courts, we have to observe
in detail that certain civil courts have
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jurisdiction over certain criminal cases and vice versa.
We also need to study the fact that in
relation to trial courts and appellate courts, in other words,
courts that are trying cases and courts that are hearing
appeals, the picture is also somewhat muddy, logical but muddy.
To the extent that the courts that we're looking at,
have both trial jurisdiction, in other words, they try cases.
And a appellate jurisdiction, in other words, they hear appeals on cases.
And with this basic tool kit of ideas then, I want to look in more
detail at the machinery of both the civil and the criminal courts.