The Roles and Responsibilities of the Legal Personnel within the English Legal System
Role of Lawyers
Criminal
Solictitors
Barristers
Legal excutives
Paralegals
Legal service ombudsman
Civil
solictors
Barristers
Paralegals
legal excutives
legal service ombudsman
Role of Judges
Criminal
Type of Judges
Justices of supreme court
These are judges in the
Supreme Court
They hear around
70 cases per
anunum
They deal with cases where
people believe that their human
rights have been breached
They deal with both
criminal and civil cases
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.
Every ruling that supreme judges
make have the ability to change the
laws of the land.
Supreme court judges
may review the case
They are highly
qualified
Justice of appeal
These are judges for the
Court of Appeal
There are 37 judges in
the Court of Appeal
and they deal with
both criminal and civil
divisions
Compared to the Supreme Court
they have a significantly heavier
workload. They hear around 48
hundred cases annually
They will usally
sit in a panel of 3
but in important
cases they will sit
in a panel of 5
They will also deal with
appeals from the lower courts
They are legally
qualified
Puisne judges
They are the judges for the High
Court (Queens Bench Division)
There are 72
appointed judges
in the Queens
Bench division
Each judge is
assigned to a division
They are legally
quailfied
Circuit judges
These are the
judges for Crown
Court
Most cases in crown
court are heard by
circuit judges
They can either specialise
in one of the three
divisions or they can
seperate their time
between the three
Family
Criminal
Civil
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
They are legally qualified
District judges
These are judges in
the Magistrates court
They support lay
magistrates in
Magistrates Court
They are
legally
qualified
judges
They are
full-time
salaried judges
It's their job to
help/advise the
lay magistrate
judge of the law
They generally deal with
more complex cases in
Magistrates Court
Recorders
These are also judges
of the Crown Court
They deal with less
completed or serious
cases in crown court
They
are fee
paid
They are legally
qualified
Lay Magistrate
They are the only judges
that have not legally
qualified
They rule over the magistrates
court with the assistance of district
judge
They live locally and
work part-time
They are un-paid
Their appointments
Powers
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