The hierarchy of the courts

In the English legal system some courts are bound to follow the decisions of judges in the higher courts. The following text provides an outline of the hierarchy of the courts and the ways in which judges are bound by the decisions of other courts and the ways in which judges are bound by the decisions of other judges.

The House of Lords is the highest appeal court in the English legal system. Its decisions are binding upon all other courts. Until 1966 the House of Lords was also bound by its own previous decisions. In that year the Lord Chancellor, Lord Gardiner, issued a Practice Statement which stated that ‘while treating former decisions of this House as normally binding’ their Lordships would ‘depart from a previous decision when it appears right to do so’.

The Court of Appeal is below the House of Lords in the hierarchy. It is bound by the decisions of the House of Lords and its decisions are binding on lower courts. It is also bound to follow its own previous decisions except when a previous decision of the Court of Appeal conflicts with a decision of the House of Lords, there are two conflicting Court of Appeal decisions when it must choose which one to follow, and a previous decision was given per incuriam (through lack of care - generally when some relevant law was not taken into consideration). These exceptions to the rule that the Court of Appeal must abide by its own previous decisions are called the rules in Young v. Bristol Aeroplane Company (1944), the case in which the rules were laid down.

The court below the Court of Appeal is the High Court of Justice. It is bound to follow the decisions of the House of Lords and the Court of Appeal. Judges of the High Court will normally follow the decisions of fellow High Court judges but they are not absolutely bound to do so.

The court of first instance for criminal cases, the Crown Court is bound by the House of Lords and the Court of Appeal; the lowest courts in the hierarchy, the county court and the magistrates' courts are bound by the high Court, the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords. No court is bound by the decisions of these lower courts.

Since 1972 when Britain joined the European Community, the position of the European Court of Justice must also be considered. It is a court of referral in relation to EC law and not a court of appeal, although its decisions on the interpretation of EC law are binding on British courts.

NOTE:

A distinctive feature of the legal profession in England and Wales is that it is divided into two groups: barristers and solicitors. In the popular mind, the distinction between barristers and solicitors is that the former are concerned with legal work - advocacy in court while the latter are concerned with legal work out of court. This is not quite the case. Barristers are primarily concerned with advocacy and they have an exclusive right of audience in the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords; but they are not confined to advocacy and may devote a deal of their time to giving expert opinions on legal matters. Nor are solicitors exclusively concerned with out-of-court work for they have a right of audience in magistrates’ courts, county courts and, in some instances, in the Crown Court.

TASK 41. Study the table and tell about the structure of the court system in the UK.