Legal Framework

Structure of the Courts:

 Criminal Law = Concerns offences which harm the whole community, therefore are offences against the sovereign. “guilty or not guilty” R V Smith.

Civil Law = Disputes between individuals and organisations, including torts (wrongs suffered e.g. defamation, breach of copyright). Also covers divorce action. “liable or not liable”. Brown  V Smith.

The legal test of proof is different for Civil and Criminal cases. For Criminal Cases it must be “beyond reasonable doubt”. For Civil Cases it is on the “balance of probability”.

There are three types of Criminal Offence:
1) Indictable only offences – most serious crimes, punishable by the longest prison terms (5 years or more) E.g. rape, murder, robbery. These are processed initially at the Magistrates Courts, but then they are quickly moved onto the Crown Court.

2) Either way offences- can be dealt with at either the magistrates or crown court. E.g. theft, sexual assault, and assault causing GBH.
3) Summary offences – dealt with at magistrates court. These are relatively minor offences. E.g. drunkness and speeding offences.

The highest court in the UK is the Supreme Court which is located in Central London, Middlesex Guildhall on one side of parliament square. There are twelve justices in total.

The Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) runs the prosecution in criminal cases.

Sources of Law:
Common Law = Law based on the custom of the realm and the decisions of judges through the centuries.

Precedent = Decisions made by judges in higher courts are then binding on all lower courts. The Supreme Courts judgement binds all UK courts, except the Scottish Criminal Court.

Statutes= Acts of Parliament – Primary legislation.

Statutory Instruments = The detailed framing of the new law set by the departmental minister concerned, who sets out statutory instruments in the form of regulations and rules. Must be approved by parliament.

European Regulations = EU Council and its Parliament agree regulations and directives. These are binding on all member states. Member states decide how directives should be implemented through their own legislation.