ABSTRACT

This chapter looks at the civil court structure and at which type of cases are heard in which trial courts, the rules relating to transfer of cases from one level of court to another, the system of appeals and the criticisms that have been made of the various aspects of these systems. However, it is important to start by looking at the administrative service that facilitates the operation of all courts, both civil and criminal, together with the alternative tribunal service. The Auld review of the criminal courts in 2001 recommended that a single centrally funded executive agency should be responsible for the administration of all courts; civil, criminal and family. The County Courts were introduced in 1846 to provide local, accessible fora for the adjudication of relatively small-scale litigation. Although mainly criminal courts, magistrates’ courts do have a civil jurisdiction, but the main part of this, historically, was in relation to family law.