The Roles and Responsibilities of the Legal Personnel within the English Legal System

Role of Lawyers
1. Criminal
  1. Solictitors
  2. Barristers
  3. Legal excutives
  4. Paralegals
  5. Legal service ombudsman
2. Civil
  1. solictors
  2. Barristers
  3. Paralegals
  4. legal excutives
  5. legal service ombudsman
Role of Judges
1. Criminal
  1. Type of Judges
    1. Justices of supreme court
      1. These are judges in the Supreme Court
      2. They hear around 70 cases per anunum
      3. They deal with cases where people believe that their human rights have been breached
      4. They deal with both criminal and civil cases
      5. They will usually sit in a panel of 5 however in rare occasions they will sit in a panel of 7. This happened in 1993 when a case between teachers and a tax collector was brought to court. In the re-examination 7 judges were present on the panel for the PEPPER v HART case.
      6. Every ruling that supreme judges make have the ability to change the laws of the land.
      7. Supreme court judges may review the case
      8. They are highly qualified
    2. Justice of appeal
      1. These are judges for the Court of Appeal
      2. There are 37 judges in the Court of Appeal and they deal with both criminal and civil divisions
      3. Compared to the Supreme Court they have a significantly heavier workload. They hear around 48 hundred cases annually
      4. They will usally sit in a panel of 3 but in important cases they will sit in a panel of 5
      5. They will also deal with appeals from the lower courts
      6. They are legally qualified
    3. Puisne judges
      1. They are the judges for the High Court (Queens Bench Division)
      2. There are 72 appointed judges in the Queens Bench division
      3. Each judge is assigned to a division
      4. They are legally quailfied
    4. Circuit judges
      1. These are the judges for Crown Court
      2. Most cases in crown court are heard by circuit judges
      3. They can either specialise in one of the three divisions or they can seperate their time between the three
        Family
        Criminal
        Civil
      4. Some cases are forwarded from Magistrates court if the judge believes that they do not have the power to deal with the case or if the defendant has decided that they want to have a trail infront of the jury
      5. They are legally qualified
    5. District judges
      1. These are judges in the Magistrates court
      2. They support lay magistrates in Magistrates Court
      3. They are legally qualified judges
      4. They are full-time salaried judges
      5. It's their job to help/advise the lay magistrate judge of the law
      6. They generally deal with more complex cases in Magistrates Court
    6. Recorders
      1. These are also judges of the Crown Court
      2. They deal with less completed or serious cases in crown court
      3. They are fee paid
      4. They are legally qualified
    7. Lay Magistrate
      1. They are the only judges that have not legally qualified
      2. They rule over the magistrates court with the assistance of district judge
      3. They live locally and work part-time
      4. They are un-paid
  2. Their appointments
  3. Powers
    1. Lay Magistrates and District Judges have limited amount of power they are only able to deal with minor crimes such as petty theft and un-paid parking fines. They are able to sentence up to 6 months imprisonment,community service and/or a fine up to £5000
  4. Jurisdictions
2. Civil
  1. Their appontments
  2. Jurisdictions
  3. Types of judges
  4. Powers

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The Roles and Responsibilities of the Legal Personnel within the English Legal System

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	Created by lilmissl2010 over 8 years ago