Identifying the jurisdictions of the courts of England and Wales will enable a conclusion to show that one way of classifying courts is as either 'courts of first instance' or 'appellate courts'.
A court of 'first instance' is the first court to hear a case, typically applying law to fact. In some cases, permission to appeal to a higher court can be granted, courts hearing appeals are known as 'appellate courts'. Appellate courts consider issues of law, determining if they agree with the 'court of first instances' application of law to fact or identifying if the law should be applied differently.
Magistrates' courts are at the bottom of the hierarchical court structure, hearing summary and 'triable either way' criminal offences, and simple civil cases, like, non-payment of council tax. Appeals in civil cases are sent to the High Court. The magistrates' court provides the defence in criminal cases an automatic right of appeal, usually to the Crown Court. Where defendants pleaded not guilty, the appeal examines the conviction and/or sentence; where defendants pleaded guilty, the appeal examines the sentence. Crown Courts are criminal courts hearing indictable and 'triable either way' offences transferred from the
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This overlap can be seen within the jurisdiction of the High Court, being a superior court that accepts 'by way of case stated' criminal appeals, and a court of first instance for civil claims of over £50,000. Classifying courts as either 'courts of first instance' or 'appellate courts' can be seen as the magistrates' court is a 'court of first instance' and the Supreme Court is an 'appellant court'. However, it is a simplistic classification and fails to divide the courts in England and Wales perfectly as one or the
Role of the Courts Firstly, the coroner’s court investigated the deaths of the accused’s family. The case was then heard in the local court. Due to the fact that the case was an indictable offence, the local court could not finalise the verdict. Therefore, the local court conducted a committal hearing, where the magistrate was to determine whether the prosecution evidence is capable of satisfying a jury, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the accused committed the offence.
I have chosen to compare Michigan?s judicial system with ours for this assignment. Missouri?s judicial system consists of three levels, the Circuit Court (trial court) which is the lowest level of the system, then the intermediate appellate courts which is known as the Court of Appeals and then the highest level of our judicial system, the Missouri Supreme Court, or the ?court of last resort.? Missouri?s Circuit Court contains 45 circuits with courts in each county that includes 134 circuit judges, 175 Associate Circuit Judges and 336 Municipal judges. The Circuit Courts include divisions, such as probate, juvenile, municipal, associate, family and circuit divisions.
The legislative court, which established the Court of Appeals helps to form a means of reviewing issues like those presented in Marbury v. Madison. Within the Court of Appeals,
Trial or District courts deal with the actual trying of the case. Gideon v. Wainwright begins with a poor man named Clarence Earl Gideon, accused of breaking and entering a poolroom in
Moreover, this hierarchical arrangement ensures that cases are heard and decisions made at various levels of the judiciary, allowing for appeals and upholding the principle of checks and balances, guaranteeing impartiality and fairness.
The United States Supreme Court was created by our Founders without many enumerated powers. Through legislation and precedent, the Supreme Court’s duties became apparent to the people and the other governing bodies. From judicial review to understanding unstated fundamental rights, the Supreme Court has furthered the American people’s understanding of our founding document, the Constitution. However, when it comes to the social climate of the United States can the Court dramatically change the people’s social views? There are two ways that the courts have been seen in allowing or impeding social change to be decided by the Courts.
The 2nd level is the County Level Courts. County Courts have jurisdiction over juvenile matters, misdemeanors with fines greater than 500$ or jail sentence, and probate matters. District Courts are the 3rd level. They have jurisdiction over felonious matters, divorce cases, land titles, and contested elections. The 4th level is the Courts of Appeals, which is the final step before the
The Ohio Supreme Court is made up of 6 Justices and 1 Chief Justice and the majority of the case they handle are appeals, while the U.S. Supreme Court is made up of 8 associate Justices and 1 Chief Justice. There are 12 appellate districts in Ohio, and the state Supreme Court is mandated to hear appeals of cases originating in the appellate courts, as well as cases concerning the State or U.S. Constitution, and the death penalty. They must also hear “cases in which there have been conflicting opinions from two or more courts of appeals.” ("Judicial System Structure”) They have the authority to make rules regarding court procedures in all Ohio courts and are the ultimate authority.
Courts prove unsuccessful in achieving social change due to the constraints on the court’s power. Rosenburg’s assessment that courts are “an institution that is structurally challenged” demonstrates the Constrained Court view. In this view, the Court’s lack of judicial independence, inability to implement policies, and the limited nature of constitutional rights inhibit courts from producing real social reform. For activists to bring a claim to court, they must frame their goal as a right guaranteed by the constitution, leading to the courts hearing less cases (Rosenburg 11). The nature of the three branches also creates a system of checks and balances in which Congress or the executive branch can reverse a controversial decision, rendering the Court’s impact void.
The three levels within the federal courts are: the U.S. Magistrate Courts, the U.S. District Courts, the U.S. Courts of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. The magistrate courts are the lowest level and as such are limited to trying misdemeanors, setting bail amounts and assisting the district courts. The U.S. District Courts are the federal branch of original jurisdiction courts. These are responsible for criminal trials and giving guilty or not guilty verdicts. The U.S. Courts of Appeals are responsible for all the appeals from U.S. district courts.
In the state of Texas there are two courts of final appeal. The highest court for civil matters is the nine member Texas Supreme Court. The nine member Texas Court Criminal Appeals is for criminal matters. The number and variety of courts are confusing to the average citizen. The judges in these courts have only general qualifications who need not be lawyers and these judges are selected in a partisan election, which is a general election where the candidates are nominated by the political parties and their respective party labels appear on the ballot.
Judicial selection is an intriguing topic as there are multiple ways that judges take their seat on the bench. The United States Constitution spells out how federal judges are selected and leaves it up to the individual states to establish their means for selecting judges. In federal courts, judges are appointed and it varies between appointment and election for state courts. The purpose of this paper is to examine the differences between appointments and elections (as well as the multiple types of elections) and to give an opinion as to which is the better alternative. Federal judges are appointed by the President of the United States and are confirmed on the advice and consent of the United States Senate.
Nicholas Zirpoli Law and Society Professor Weiss September 25, 2015 Unit 1 Legal Systems Unit 1 explores the legal systems of the world starting with the United States. We learned things from how the government was created, to the Bill of Rights. Its all about the laws and how it affects our society as a whole. We also take a look into different governments like France, China, and Saudi Arabia and compare them with our own government.
[5] Common law works in a different way, the judges rather than the Parliament make common law or ‘judge-made law’. Considering criminal and civil cases, the judges take decisions based on the stare decisis principle (Latin “to stand by things decided”, the legal principle of determining points in litigation according to precedent [4]), deliver rulings and create precedents, thus applying the law to real life situations. Therefore, the value of the precedent is very high in the English Common Law system. The strengths of common law
The hierarchy of courts of Malaysia begins with the Magistrates’ Court, followed by the Sessions Court, High Court, Court of Appeal and finally is the Federal Court of Malaysia. There are generally two types of trials, criminal and civil. The jurisdiction of the courts in civil or criminal matters are contained in the Subordinate Courts Act 1948 and the Courts of Judicature Act 1964. Article 121 of the Constitution provides for two High Courts of co-ordinate jurisdiction, the High Court in Malaya, and the High Court in Sabah and Sarawak. Thus this creates two separate local jurisdiction of the courts – for Peninsular Malaysia and for East Malaysia.