Her Majesty's High Court of Justice (usually known more simply as the High Court) is, together with the Crown Court and the Court of Appeal, part of the Supreme Court of Judicature of England and Wales (which under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, is to be known as the Senior Courts of England and Wales). A bar council in a Commonwealth country is a professional body that regulates the profession of barristers together with the Inns of Court. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Law Society of England and Wales is the professional association that regulates and represents the solicitors profession in England and Wales. ... A solicitor is a type of lawyer in many common law jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Republic of Ireland, Canada and some States of Australia but not the United States. ... Crown Court and County Court in Oxford. ... Her Majestys Court of Appeal is the second most senior court in the English legal system (with only the judges of the House of Lords above it). ... Schematic of court system for England and Wales The United Kingdom does not have a single unified judicial system—England and Wales have one system, Scotland another, and Northern Ireland a third. ... Bold textLodgey makes out with stephanie The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (2005 c. ... Schematic of court system for England and Wales The United Kingdom does not have a single unified judicial system - England and Wales have one system, Scotland another, and Northern Ireland a third. ...

It deals at first instance with all the most high value and high importance cases, and also has a supervisory jurisdiction over all subordinate courts and tribunals. Appeal from the High Court in civil matters lies to the Court of Appeal and thence to the House of Lords, except when the High Court is sitting as a Prize Court when appeal lies to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The Court of First Instance, created in 1989, is a court of the European Union. ... The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function, has a judicial function as a court of last resort within the United Kingdom. ... A court (or even a single individual, such as an ambassador or consul) authorized to consider whether or not a ship has been lawfully captured or seized in time of war or under the terms of the seizing ships letters of marque and reprisal. ... The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom. ...

The High Court is based at the Royal Courts of Justice on The Strand, in central London. However, it also sits as 'District Registries' all across England and Wales and virtually all proceedings in the High Court may be issued and heard at a district registry. It is headed by the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. By convention, all of its male judges are made Knights Bachelor, while all of its female ones are made Dames Commander of the British Empire. The main entrance The Royal Courts of Justice, commonly called the Law Courts, is a building in London, which houses the Court of Appeal and the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. ... Strand is a famous road in London, linking Trafalgar Square to Fleet Street and the City of London. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England and is the most populous city in the European Union. ... The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, and the presiding judge of Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal, and of the Queens Bench Division of the High Court. ... The dignity of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. ... Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these...

The High Court is split into three divisions, the Queen's Bench Division, the Chancery Division and the Family Division.

Queen's Bench Division

Main article: King's Bench Division

The Queen's Bench Division — or King's Bench Division when the monarch is a King — has two roles. It hears a wide range of contract law and personal injury / general negligence cases, but also has special responsibility as a supervisory court. Until 2005, the head of the QBD was the Lord Chief Justice (currently Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers). A new post of President of the Queen's Bench Division was created under the provisions of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, leaving the Lord Chief Justice as President of the Courts of England and Wales, Head of the Judiciary of England and Wales and Head of Criminal Justice.[1] Sir Igor Judge became the first person to hold this office in October 2005.[2] [3] One of the ancient courts of England, the Kings Bench (or Queens Bench when the monarch is female) is now a division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. ... The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, and the presiding judge of Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal, and of the Queens Bench Division of the High Court. ... The Right Honourable Nicholas Addison Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers, PC (born 21 January 1938) is a British judge who was Master of the Rolls since 2000 and has been Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales since 1 October 2005. ... Bold textLodgey makes out with stephanie The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (2005 c. ... Sir Igor Judge Lawyer. ...

Queen's Bench Division judges, along with circuit judges also exercise a criminal jurisdiction when sitting in the Crown Court. In addition, the Divisional Court of the Division hears appeals on points of law from magistrates' courts and from Crown courts which have heard appeals from magistrates' courts (see Courts of England and Wales for an explanation of these courts). All claims for judicial review of administrative decisions or decisions of inferior tribunals are heard by a Queen's Bench judge or a Divisional Court. Appeals from the High Court in civil matters lie to the Court of Appeal (Civil Division); in criminal matters appeal lies only to the House of Lords. Crown Court and County Court in Oxford. ... Bedford Magistrates Court A Magistrates Court or court of petty sessions, formerly known as a police court, is the lowest level of court in England and Wales and many other common law jurisdictions. ... Schematic of court system for England and Wales The United Kingdom does not have a single unified judicial system—England and Wales have one system, Scotland another, and Northern Ireland a third. ... Her Majestys Court of Appeal is the second most senior court in the English legal system (with only the judges of the House of Lords above it). ...

Sub-divisions of the Queen's Bench Division include the Commercial Court, the Admiralty Court and the Administrative Court (where claims for judicial review are heard). Admiralty courts, also known as maritime courts, are courts exercising jurisdiction over all maritime contracts, torts, injuries and offences. ... Judicial review is the power of a court to review a law or an official act of a government employee or agent for constitutionality or for the violation of basic principles of justice. ...

Chancery Division

The Chancery Division deals with business law, trusts law, probate law, land law in relation to issues of equity. In addition it has specialist courts within it which deal with intellectual property and company law. The head of the Chancery Division was known as the Vice-Chancellor until October 2005. The title was changed under the provisions of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 to Chancellor of the High Court. The first Chancellor (and the last Vice-Chancellor) is Sir Andrew Morritt. One may read reported cases heard before the Chancery Division in the Chancery Division law reports. Commercial law or business law is the body of law which governs business and commerce and is often considered to be a branch of civil law and deals both with issues of private law and public law. ... Wiktionary has related dictionary definitions, such as: trust Trust may refer to: Trust (sociology), the willing acceptance of one persons power to affect another Property law Trust law, where ownership and management of property is on behalf of another Escrow, where a thing is held in trust until conditions... In the common law, a will or testament is a document by which a person (the testator) regulates the rights of others over his property or family after death. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... The Court of Chancery, London, early 19th century This article is about concept of equity in Anglo-American jurisprudence. ... In law, intellectual property (IP) is an umbrella term for various legal entitlements which attach to certain types of information, ideas, or other intangibles in their expressed form. ... Corporations law or corporate law is the law concerning the creation and regulation of corporations. ... The Vice-Chancellor is the Lord Chancellors deputy in the British legal system, and the head of the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. ... The Chancellor of the High Court is the head of the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. ...

Family Division

The Family Division deals with matters such as divorce, children, probate and medical treatment. Its decisions may concern life and death and are perhaps inevitably regarded as controversial. For example, it permitted a hospital to separate conjoined twins without the parents' consent; and allowed one woman to have her life support machines turned off, while not permitting a husband to give his severely disabled wife a lethal injection with her consent. The High Court Family Division has jurisdiction to hear all cases relating to children's welfare and interest, and exercises an exclusive jurisdiction in wardship cases. The head of the Family Division is the President of the Family Division Sir Mark Potter. Its most senior court is the Principal Registry of the Family Division which is based in First Avenue House, Holborn, London. Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the ending of a marriage before the death of either spouse, which can be contrasted with an annulment, which is a declaration that a marriage is void, though the effects of marriage may be recognized in such unions, such as spousal support, child custody... A male Caucasian toddler child A child (plural: children) is a young human. ... Probate is the legal process of settling the estate of a deceased person; specifically, distributing the decedents property. ... Medicine is the branch of health science and the sector of public life concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis and treatment of disease and injury. ... Modern, healthy, living 15-year-old conjoined twins Abigail and Brittany Hensel. ... Sir Mark Howard ...

The Family Division is comparatively modern, having been formed by combining the Admiralty Court and probate courts into the then Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court, or Wills, Wrecks and Wives as it was informally called.

Judges

The judges in the High Court are known formally as Justices of Her Majesty's High Court of Justice and informally as High Court Judges, and are styled formally and in judicial matters The Hon. Mr(s) Justice (Forename) Surname. (The first judge with a particular surname is called, e.g., "Mr Justice Smith", and all subsequent judges with that surname are distinguished as "Mr Justice John Smith", "Mr Justice Robert Smith", etc., and female judges are called, e.g., "Mrs Justice Jones" regardless of marital status.) Socially they are known simply by the knighthood or damehood they acquire on appointment, without the prefix "The Hon.".

See List of High Court Judges of England and Wales. Judges of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales in order of appointment: Sir Stuart Neil McKinnon Sir Robert Lionel Johnson Sir Michael Morland Sir Roger John Buckley Dame Joyanne Winifred Bracewell DBE Sir Peter John Cresswell Sir John Edmund Frederic Lindsay Sir Richard Herbert Curtis Sir Anthony...

Supervisory role of the High Court and Circuits

Historically, the source of all justice in England was the monarch. All judges sit in judgement on her behalf (hence why they have the royal coat of arms behind them) and criminal prosecutions made by the state are generally made on her behalf. Historically, local lords were permitted to admister justice in Manorial Courts and other ways. Inevitably, the justice administered was patchy and appeals were made direct to the King. The King's travelling representatives (whose primary purpose was tax collection) acted on behalf of the king to make the administration of justice more even. The tradition of judges travelling in set areas of the country or 'circuits' remains to this day, where they hear cases in the district registries of the High Court. Generic plan of a mediaeval manor; open-field strip farming, some enclosures, triennial crop rotation, demesne and manse, common woodland, pasturage and meadow Manorialism or Seigneurialism describes the organization of rural economy and society in medieval western and parts of central Europe, characterised by the vesting of legal and economic...

It is also on behalf of the monarch that the Queen's Bench Division oversees all lesser courts and all government authority. Generally, unless other appeal processes are laid down in law, anyone who wants to challenge any decision of a lesser court, tribunal, government authority or state authority brings a claim for judicial review in the Queen's Bench Division. This is a special procedure in the Administrative Court of the Queen's Bench Division. A single judge first decides whether the matter is fit to bring to the court (to weed out cranks and unwinnable cases) and if so the matter is allowed to go forward to a full judicial review hearing. This is not a jury matter. Appeals are to the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) and then to the House of Lords, or in criminal matters, directly to the House of Lords. Judicial review is the power of a court to review a law or an official act of a government employee or agent for constitutionality or for the violation of basic principles of justice. ...