Topic The House Of Lords

The House of Lords is a non-elected hereditary second chamber of Parliament. The House of Lords has more than 1000 members, although only about 250 take an active part in the work of the House.

The House of Lords is composed of lords spiritual and lords temporal. The lords spiritual are two leaders of the Church of England, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and twenty-four bishops. The lords temporal are persons of royal decent.

The chairman of the House of Lords is the Lord Chancellor, and he sits on a special seat called “the Woolsack”. The woolsack is now stuffed with wool from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and from the Commonwealth countries. Members of the Government and their supporters sit to the right, and those of the Opposition to the left.

The House of Lords has formally the power only to revise and amend bills passed through the House of Commons. About 95 per cent of the amendments proposed by the lords are accepted by the Commons. The House of Lords is the highest court in the UK and can be called to hear an appeal.

The division of Parliament into two chambers took place over 700 years ago when feudal assembly ruled the country. In modern times, real political power belongs to the elected House of Commons although members of the House of Lords still occupy important Cabinet posts.

Scheme The Judicial System Of Great Britain

The highest judicial organ in the UK and the final appellate tribunal

The Supreme Court of Judicature (The Court of Appeal + the Crown Court + the High Court)

An intermediate appellate tribunal and the trial court for serious civil and criminal cases

The courts of first instance for minor criminal and civil cases

Topic Criminal Courts

Magistrates’ Courts. The Magistrates’ Courts try the cases of minor importance. Magistrates’ Courts may impose a fine up to a general limit of 5000£ or 12 months’ imprisonment.

With more serious cases the magistrates can decide only to send them for trial in a Crown Court.

A Magistrates’ Court consists of 3 Justices of the Peace (JPs). The JPs are ordinary but worthy citizens who have been appointed to their positions by the Lord Chancellor on the advice of local committees. There are more than 28000 JPs in England; each of them works in the courts on about 30 to 50 days a year. JPs receive no payment for their work.

Some of the courts in London and in ten other towns have stipendiary magistrates, who a qualified lawyers, work full time and are paid salaries.

Crown Courts. When a criminal case is not dealt with finally in a Magistrates’ Court, it goes for trial in a Crown Court. Crown Courts try serious cases such as murder, rape, arson, armed robbery, fraud, and so on. The court is presided over by a judge, but the decision on guilt or innocence is made by a jury of twelve citizens. The judge’s functions are:

1. to see that the trial is properly conducted;

2. to give guidance to the jury before asking it for its verdict;

3. if the jury finds the accused guilty, to decide upon the penalty and pronounce a sentence.

For this last decision the judge is helped by two JPs who have been sitting beside him throughout the proceedings.

Judges are either practising or former barristers who all are qualified, professional and experienced lawyers and are paid for their work.

In a Crown Court, a person who is accused of crime, when he is brought into the dock, is asked by the clerk if he is guilty or not guilty. If he says that he is not guilty, he must be tried in order to establish whether he is in fact guilty or not. For this purpose a jury has to be appointed. From the group of 30 local citizens who have been ordered to be ready to serve as members of the jury, twelve will be called out to be the jury for the particular case.

The Crown Courts act also as the appeal courts against both conviction and sentences by magistrates. When the appeal is against conviction, a judge re-hears all the evidence that witnesses have already given in the lower court, but there is no jury.

Court of Appeal. The accused may appeal to the Criminal Division of Court of Appeal against conviction, or it may reduce or increase a sentence. The Court of Appeal does not hear witnesses other than in exceptional circumstances.

House of Lords. The highest court in the country is the House of Lords. It is the final court of appeal in criminal cases. The judges of the House of Lords are the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (Law Lords). They are ten in number. They form a quorum when at least three of them are present. Normally. Five of them attend a meeting. The president of the House of Lords as a court is the Lord Chancellor.