High Court of Justice

The High Court of Justice, a part of the Supreme Court of Judicature, is centered in London and oversees legal cases and appeals in England and Wales. Drawing from centuries of legal precedents and formed under the Judicature Acts beginning in 1873, the High Court is part of the Senior Courts structure. It ranks above the Crown Court and below the Court of Appeal. The High Court is made up of three main divisions: the King's (or Queen’s) Bench Division, the Chancery Division, and the Family Division. Each of these divisions has an area of legal specialty.

Brief History

Formally called His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, the High Court of Justice is one of the most powerful courts in the United Kingdom. It draws from a millennium of legal precedents in the British Isles. The deepest roots of the English and Welsh court systems began before 1066, when the monarchy and local governments chose various methods of investigating cases and trying accused criminals. Some trials in the Middle Ages were strange and archaic by modern standards and led to injury and injustice.

The first judges, dating back to the twelfth century, were mostly royal advisors who often used their positions to silence opposition to the government. Over time, as the population grew and the absolute power of the monarchy began to slowly lessen, courts diversified. Some of the main courts were classified as the Court of King’s Bench and the King’s Council. Some courts operated under the monarch’s jurisdiction, while others were more independent of the monarchy. Courts also began to specialize in different types and severities of case.

In 1166, the justice system further grew and diversified, when King Henry II declared at the Assize of Clarendon that judges should travel around the kingdom to review and try cases at so-called “assize courts.” These judges would carry with them a set of new national laws to override the various rules and legal precedents in the communities they visited. These laws formed the basis of the modern “common law.”

In the coming centuries, many of these judges and the lawyers with whom they worked became renowned for their skill. They began forming the modern legal profession and helped to bring the judiciary to higher levels of independence. They also helped the field further diversify and specialize, forming, for instance, magistrate courts and courts of common pleas. Judges received higher salaries, both to acknowledge their growing importance and professionalism, as well as to reduce their temptation to accept bribes.

Despite the spread of the common law system and its overall effectiveness, it still had many flaws. Trying cases using this system was generally a slow process, complicated by many technicalities that often led to cases being thrown out too early. In addition, some judges and jury members were prone to corruption.

Many people sought an alternative to the common law system, and over time began appealing their cases to a new judicial figure, the Lord Chancellor. The Lord Chancellor was tasked with overseeing trials on behalf of the monarch’s councils, particularly cases that dealt with civil matters such as contracts and property disputes. Eventually, the Court of Chancery formed for this purpose, providing citizens a new option for legal settlements. However, its rulings were based more on the Lord Chancellor’s personal appraisals rather than established common law, making its judgments sometimes erratic and unprecedented.

That judicial system continued with only minor variations until the nineteenth century, when several reforms took place. These changes included the establishment of a new Central Criminal Court near London and the bringing of new lands into the legal circuit. In 1846, the County Courts Act helped to establish local courtrooms that would handle a variety of civil concerns. However, even greater changes to the judicial system still lay ahead in the Judicature Acts of 1873–1875, which would, among other changes, establish the High Court of Justice.

Overview

The 1870s saw an important wave of changes and reforms in the British judiciary system. Primary among these were the Judicature Acts that began in 1873. Under these acts, the main types of courts—common law and Chancery (or equity) courts—which had previously operated separately would be merged. Following these acts, all courts would deal with cases of both common law and equity law. The Judicature Acts established a Court of Appeal as well, which would hear civil cases appealed from other courts. The acts also created another new court, the High Court of Justice.

The High Court of Justice is an addition to the Supreme Court of Judicature that is headquartered in London. Overseeing cases in England and Wales, the High Court is part of the Senior Courts system of those countries, ranked above the Crown Court and below the Court of Appeal. The High Court comprises three main divisions that each hear certain types of cases—the King’s Bench Division, the Chancery Division, and the Family Division. High Court judges are not technically restricted to one division, but in modern practice, usually stay in one division and focus on one type of case.

While these divisions function in different ways, they all share some common traits. All of the divisions of the High Court have appellate jurisdiction, which means they are empowered to hear cases that are appealed from lower courts. This jurisdiction applies to both civil and criminal cases, and judges in the High Court—like other judges in the system—may deal with matters of common law or equity.

These cases must meet certain specifications, however. According to the Civil Procedure Rules, Part 7, the divisions of the High Court are restricted to hearing cases pertaining to personal injury claims of £50,000 or more, or non-personal-injury claims of £100,000 or more. Other cases allowed in High Court include specialist claims pertaining to specific areas of law, such as Commercial, Patents, or Companies Law, and claims that are statutorily exclusive to the High Court.

The High Court follows a regulated schedule of four yearly sittings, known as Hilary, Easter, Trinity, and Michaelmas. These sittings take place from January 11 to the Wednesday before Easter (Hilary), the second Tuesday after Easter to the Friday before the last Monday in May (Easter), the second Tuesday after the spring holiday to July 31 (Trinity), and October 1 to December 20 (Michaelmas). During these sittings, each of the three divisions of the High Court tries the cases most suited to their specialty.

One of the main divisions, the Chancery Division is led by the Chancellor of the High Court, and despite its name is not restricted to equity law but also handles some common law matters. The Chancery Division partners with the Business and Property Court, established in 2017. While this division is headquartered at the Rolls Building in London, it also oversees numerous district courts in England and Wales. For main hearings at the London base, nineteen judges try cases. Lesser cases fall to one of six officials known as “masters.” In the district courts, chancery or circuit judges oversee most trials and district judges do the work of the masters.

The Chancery Division sees a variety of cases that mostly deal with business, property, and contractual law. Many of these fall to auxiliary specialist courts including the Insolvency List, the Companies List, the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, and the Patent Court. Judges handle cases pertaining to disputes over trusts, wills, land, or businesses, and disputes relating to commercial matters or business competition. They also accept appealed cases relating to tribunal or county decisions and insolvency hearings. Cases relating to business negligence, breaches of contract, errors in deeds, and disputes in forming or ending partnerships frequently appear in Chancery dockets.

Another of the main divisions is the King's Bench Division, which is headquartered at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. It operates numerous district courts throughout England and Wales. Major hearings are typically overseen by a High Court judge and lesser matters generally fall to a master. In the district courts, circuit judges hear major cases and district judges serve as the masters.

The King's Bench Division comprises several smaller specialist courts, including the Mercantile Court, the Commercial Court, the Admiralty Court, the Administrative Court, and the Technology and Construction Court. Although each specialist court handles a particular variety of cases, in general, the King's Bench sees cases involving torts, libel and slander, and contractual disputes. The caseload is very similar to that of the Chancery Division, and these divisions may share similar cases.

Judges of the King's Bench may hear cases involving breached contracts or statutes, accusations of slander, unpaid debts, negligence, and personal injury cases. Other matters more exclusive to this division include registry of deeds, transfer of overseas judgments to England and Wales, petitions to challenge election results, bail applications, enforcement of bills of sale, and conflicts over debts and ownership.

The Constitutional Reform Act of 2005 had the most significant impact on the UK justice system since the Magna Carta in 1215. Since 1873, the Lord Chancellor has been the Head of the Judiciary, but the Act established the Lord Chief Justice as President of the Courts of England and Wales and Head of the Judiciary. This created a separation between the judiciary and the other divisions of the UK government.

The other main division of the High Court is the Family Division, which handles family matters as suggested by its title. The Family Division is centered at the Royal Courts of London and other smaller locations in England and Wales, with cases overseen by High Court judges or, in district offices, by district judges. It hears a variety of cases dealing with questions of adoption, care and custody of children, and marriage and divorce. Some examples of cases taken to the Family Division involve children becoming wards of the court, international child abduction, and forced marriages.

Bibliography

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