High Court Of Justice Of England And Wales Queen's Bench

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 (Civil Division) and thence to the House of Lords.

The High Court is split into three divisions, the Queen's Bench Division, the Chancery Division and the Family Division.

1 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. The head of the QBD is the Lord Chief Justice (currently Lord Woolf).

Queen's Bench Division judges, along with circuit judges also exercise a criminal jurisdiction when sitting in the Crown Court. 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 (see UK Court System for an explanation of these courts). All claims for judicial review of administrative decisions or decisions of inferior tribunals are heard by a Queen's Bench judge or a Divisional Court. Appeals from the High Court in civil matters lie to the Court of Appeal (Civil Division); in criminal matters appeal lies only to the House of Lords.

Sub-divisions of the Queen's Bench Division include the Commercial Court, the Admiralty Court and the Administrative Court (where claims for judicial reviewJudicial review is the power of a court to review a law or an official act of a government employee or agent; for example, although the basis is different in different countries, as unconstitutional or violating of basic principles of justice. In many jur are heard).

2 Chancery Division

The Chancery Division deals with business lawCommercial law or business law is the body of law which governs business and commerce and is often considered to be a branch of civil law and deals both with issues of private law and public law. Commercial law regulates corporate contracts, hiring practi, trustThe term trust has several meanings: In sociology, trust is willing acceptance of one person's power to affect another. It is discussed more formally in the articles on social capital, profession and authority. There is much dispute on whether degrees ofs law, probate lawIn the law, a will or testament is a documentary instrument by which a person regulates the rights of others over his property or family after his death. For the devolution of property not disposed of by will, see inheritance and intestacy. In strictness, landLand is sometimes used synonymously with country. Land can also be for "a land of a people", particularly in the absence of a state or government, which is rather implicated by the near-synonym country. The land is the part of the Earth that is not covere law in relation to issues of equity. In addition it has specialist courts within it which deal with intellectual property and company law. The head of the Chancery Division is the Vice-Chancellor (currently Sir Andrew Morritt ).

3 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 Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss , one of the few female High Court judges. Its most senior court is the Principal Registry of the Family Division which is based in First Avenue House, Holborn, London.

The Family Division is comparatively modern, having been formed 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.

4 The Supervisory Role of the High Court and Circuits

Historically, the source of all justice in England was the monarch. All judges sit in judgement on her behalf (hence why they have 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 admister 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. It is also on behalf of the monarch that 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 Queen's Bench Division. This is a special procedure in the Administrative Court of the Queen's Bench Division. A single judge first decides whether the matter is fit to bring to the court (to weed out cranks and unwinnable cases) and if so the matter is allowed to go forward to a full judicial review hearing. This is not a jury matter. Appeals are to the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) and then to the House of Lords, or in criminal matters, directly to the House of Lords.

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