The Court System of England and Wales

The lowest criminal courts or Magistrates’ Courts deal with minor offences, with more serious cases being heard in the Crown Court, in front of a judge and jury. The Crown Court also hears cases appealed from the Magistrates’ Courts on factual points. Cases can be appealed on points of law to the High Court (Queen’s Bench Division) and appeals against conviction and sentence are made to the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division).

Civil cases are heard firstly in the County Courts or the High Court, which is divided into three divisions: Queen’s Bench, Family and Chancery. The Chancery Division considers complex matters such as disputes about wills, trusts, bankruptcy, land law, intellectual property and corporate laws, and the Queen's Bench Division deals with other business matters including contracts, torts or land disputes. The Queen's Bench Division has some specialist sub-divisions, including a Commercial Court, which deals with large and complex business disputes. Cases may be appealed to the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) and can be appealed from the County Court to the High Court. The House of Lords is the supreme court of appeal with its judicial functions separate from its legislative work.

In addition to the courts there are specialised Tribunals, which hear appeals on decisions, made by various public bodies and Government departments, in areas such as employment, immigration, social security, tax and land.

In England and Wales, unlike in many other countries, the role of a lawyer is divided into two clear and distinct specialisms – that of barrister and solicitor.

Solicitor

A solicitor’s role is to give specialist legal advice and help, and they are the main advisers on all matters of law to the public. There are over 60,000 solicitors practising in England and Wales, and their work varies enormously. Generally, solicitors deal with all aspects of legal practice from drafting letters, to researching cases and providing legal advice. They usually qualify into, and practice in, a specialist area, i.e. family, commercial or media law. Most solicitors are employed by a law practice or firm which is a partnership of solicitors who offer services to clients. In private practice there are three broad types of firms:

· High street firms – these are usually small firms dealing with individuals with housing, employment and immigration problems.

· Medium sized firms – these firms may offer specialist advice on a niche area (e.g. media, family or IT), but others will offer a huge spectrum of services from corporate finance to private client.

· Large commercial firms – Magic Circle is a term that is used to refer to the top five UK law firms: Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters and Slaughter and May. Last year, The Lawyer reported that the Magic Circle accounted for 32% of billings of the entire.

Opportunities also exist outside private practice in the UK Government and charitable organisations as well as with some large companies.

Barrister

Barristers usually qualify into, and practice in, a specialist area, but unlike solicitors will spend most of their time researching the law and practising advocacy at the courts. Much of a barrister's work will involve court work, and highly developed presentation and interpersonal skills are essential. Barristers operate from Chambers, which are essentially a collective of barristers much like a firm, although barristers are self-employed and pay a proportion of their earnings to the chambers for space, etc.

Some comparative notes to remember:

1. There is no written English constitution (i.e., there is no one single document called the constitution); “constitutional law” concerns issues such as the role of the state, the protection of individual rights, etc. (see e.g., Anthony King, The British Constitution, KD3989.K56 2007).

2. There is no official codification of English statutes.

3. Any statute passed by Parliament is by definition valid and not subject to review by the courts. Thus a statute’s “constitutionality” is not an issue a court can address; Parliament alone may act to change a law.

Vocabulary

indigenously [in’did3inəsli] книжн. исконно, по происхождению

devolution передача (обязанностей, функций); переход

endemic свойственный данной местности, местный

Direct Rule прямое правление

to take precedence иметь преимущество

to overrule 1) отменять; аннулировать; считать недействительным; 2) отклонять, отвергать; 3) отвергать решение по ранее рассмотренному делу с созданием новой нормы прецедентного права

(constitutional) convention (конституционный) обычай

works of authority законодательные инициативы

binding force обязательная сила

to convict объявлять виновным в вердикте присяжных/ решении суда; conviction обвинительный приговор

sentence 1) наказание 2) приговор

specialism [ ‘spe∫ə,lizəm] специализация

law practice юридическая консультация