Court Service
Prior to the Courts Act 1971 the court system and its administration in England and Wales was fragmented, with a number of courts having overlapping
responsibilities in criminal and civil jurisdictions. The system theoretically
provided separate courts for the trial of criminal and civil cases, with three
levels of courts dealing with criminal work and two levels with civil work.
Criminal work was undertaken by courts of assize, courts of quarter sessions
and magistrates' courts; civil work by the High Court and the county courts. In
practice courts sometimes undertook both civil and criminal work.
Responsibility for providing judges, court staff and buildings for the various
courts was similarly fragmented, with local authorities responsible for
building and maintenance of courts of assize, crown courts, quarter sessions
and magistrates; while the Home Secretary controlled capital investment and
gave advice on costs; and the Lord Chancellor and Minister of Public Buildings
and Works provided and maintained county courts.
Courts of Assize: the system of assizes, based on regular journeys by the judges to groups of counties, with circuits to fixed stopping places in more prominent towns, began in the 12th century; by the beginning of the 18th century the assizes courts were dealing with all the more serious criminal cases outside London, including cases remitted to them from the courts of quarter sessions by Justices of the Peace, and were also hearing some civil actions. The criminal side of the assizes was generally presided over by High
Court judges and staffed by clerks of assize; the civil side by the District
Registrar, a judicial officer who usually combined his work with the post of
registrar of one or more county courts.
Courts of Quarter Sessions: the origins of these courts also go back to the middle ages. In 1361 the first Justices of the
Peace were appointed by statute. Early in the 15th century statutory provision was made for the Justices to meet quarterly, and the courts became known as the quarter sessions. Their jurisdiction appears to have covered all indictable offences except perjury and forgery at common law, but more difficult cases were usually referred to the assizes. Quarter sessions courts also heard appeals from magistrates' courts. Separate courts of quarter sessions existed for each county, and there were also courts in Greater London, and a number of borough courts. They were presided over by a judge, supported by lay magistrates in the counties and by a judge or recorder alone in the borough courts, and staffed by a clerk of the peace.
In Greater London the heavy workload led to the creation of permanent
courts. Under the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873, the then existing
common law, equity and specialised courts were consolidated to form a Supreme
Court of Judicature, comprising a High Court of Justice and a Court of Appeal.
The High Court had three divisions, Chancery, Queen's Bench and Probate,
Divorce and Admiralty. Criminal work was done in the Central Criminal Court,
effectively the assize court for Greater London, at the Old Bailey; and civil
work in the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand. A similar workload led to
the creation in 1956 of crown courts in Manchester and Liverpool to deal with
all quarter sessions work in the cities, and with assizes cases in South
Lancashire.
County Courts: forerunners of county courts, dealing with minor disputes, existed from Saxon times, but the modern system of
courts was not established until the County Courts Act 1846 replaced the existing small debts courts with county courts dealing exclusively with civil matters. Each court was serviced by a county court registrar; his duties were performed either by him personally or by clerks, bailiffs and other officers appointed to assist him.
Administrative responsibility for the courts passed from the Home Office to the Lord Chancellor in 1886, and in 1922 a county court branch of the LCO was established.
Magistrates' Courts: these courts were mostly presided over by lay magistrates. Their jurisdiction was local, their area being the counties and most of the larger boroughs. They dealt with less serious criminal cases and also had power to deal with juveniles and certain civil matters. Most of the criminal cases dealt with by the assizes were committed from the magistrates'
courts.
Following the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Assizes
and Quarter Sessions 1966-1969, the Courts Act 1971 brought in a
general reorganisation of the higher courts, and the establishment
of a unified court service under the control of a single Minister,
the Lord Chancellor. The old courts of assize and quarter sessions
were abolished, the quarter sessions and the criminal side of the
assizes being replaced by a single Crown Court, which formed part
of the Supreme Court of Judicature. It had the power to sit
wherever it was needed, and was divided into districts to which
circuit judges and officials were appointed. The Crown Court
exercises exclusive jurisdiction in trials on indictment, as well
as the appellate and other jurisdiction previously exercised by the
quarter sessions. The Act replaced the civil side of the assizes
with a reconstituted High Court with power to sit anywhere in the
country in addition to London. Below the level of the High Court
are county courts, presided over by circuit judges and district
judges (previously known as county court registrars).
The Act also gave the Lord Chancellor powers to appoint such
officers and other staff from the Supreme Court and county courts
as necessary, for setting up a unified administrative court service
to carry out the administration work of the courts. The changes to
the structure of the courts were reflected within the LCO by the
formation of a Headquarters Court Service administrative
organisation and a Circuit Administration. Circuit administrators
were appointed with responsibility for the administration of the
High Court, Crown Court and county courts, and for arranging
sittings of judges and registrars in their areas.
Within the LCO, establishment and finance work was eventually
absorbed by the new HQ Court Service, together with statistical
work, including the compilation of civil judicial statistics, which
had been taken over from the Home Office in 1921. Until 1995 the
Lord Chancellor's Department was responsible for producing the
statistics; in April 1995 the Court Service became an Executive
Agency and the Courts and Statistics Branches were transferred to
its control. Compilation of criminal statistics has remained the
responsibility of the Home Office.
All the higher courts and county courts in England and Wales are
directly administered by the LCO through the Court Service Agency,
except for magistrates' and coroners' courts. Although the Lord
Chancellor is accountable to Parliament for the operation of
magistrates' courts, they are financed by local authorities and
administered by local magistrates' courts committees. Coroners'
courts are the responsibility of the Home Office. The Court Service
currently carries out the administrative and support tasks for:
The Court of Appeal, which sits in London at the Royal Courts of Justice, deals with appeals in criminal cases from the
Crown Court, and in civil cases from the High Court, county courts,
and certain tribunals.
The High Court sits at the Royal Courts of Justice and at 'first tier' Crown Court centres across the country.
The Crown Court tries the more serious criminal offences on indictment, sitting at 78 permanent and 15 satellite centres
throughout England and Wales. These centres are designated as
first, second or third tier, according to the severity of the
offences tried there. First tier centres also deal with High Court
civil and family work. Less serious criminal cases not tried in the
Crown Court centres are dealt with in the magistrates' courts.
There are 233 county courts in England and Wales. All deal with civil cases and the larger ones with family work.
The Probate Service is administered by the Principal Registry of the Family Division of the High Court.
The following Tribunals are supported by the Court Service: the Immigration Appellate Authorities; the Social Security
and Child Support Commissioners; the Pensions Appeal Tribunals; the
Special Commissioners of Income Tax; the VAT and Duties Tribunal;
the Lands Tribunal; and the Transport Tribunal.
For operational purposes the Court Service is divided into nine
commands:
- the Criminal Appeal Office
- the Supreme Court Group
- six circuits covering England and Wales
- the tribunals
Support services have been centralised at the Court Service
headquarters; statistical analysis is currently the responsibility
of the Resources and Planning Division of the Service's Resources
and Support Services Directorate.
Judge Advocate General's Office
The Office of the Judge Advocate General, the legal officer
responsible to the Crown for the provision of military law, now
forms part of the Lord Chancellor's Department. The JAG's office is
responsible for the provision of Judge Advocates at courts martial
and military courts in the UK and abroad. The office is also
responsible for offering post-trial legal advice on courts martial
and on other legal matters to the Army, the Royal Air Force and the
Ministry of Defence. A separate office, that of the Judge Advocate
of the Fleet is responsible for matters relating to naval courts
martial.
The Office of the Judge Advocate General can be traced back to
the Articles of War of 1639 issued by King Charles I who gave
authority "...to the Council of War and the Advocate of the Army to
enquire of the actors and circumstances of offences committed by
the oaths of such of so many ..." as they thought convenient using
"...all means for examination and trial of persons delated,
suspected, or defamed ...". Orders issued in 1662 by Charles II
gave authority to the "... Judge Advocate of the Forces ..." to
take information and depositions as occasion should require in all
matters triable before court martial. The original functions of the
office were wide ranging, the Judge Advocate acted as prosecuting
counsel, he determined points of law, and might also assist the
prisoner to present his defence. At the end of a trial he delivered
a judicial summing-up and then retired with the members of the
court while they were considering their findings. The Judge
Advocate General was also responsible for advising the sovereign on
the exercise of the prerogative of mercy with respect to the
sentences of courts martial, and acted as secretary and legal
adviser to the Board of General Officers. The Board reviewed
reports of incidents to decide whether referral to court martial
was necessary.
Between 1806 and 1892 the post was a ministerial one, the Judge
Advocate General spoke for the Commander-in-Chief of the Army in
Parliament, and his appointment was regarded as a political one.
From 1892 he ceased to be a Minister and the post became wholly
judicial and advisory in character. The post was held, on an unpaid
basis, by the President of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty
Division of the High Court until 1905, when a Judge Advocate
General was appointed as part of the War Office. From 1918 the
Judge Advocate General was also responsible for providing legal
advice to the Secretary of State for Air, and for dealing with
courts martial of RAF personnel.
In 1923 the JAG's office was reorganised so that separate
departments dealt with the office's prosecuting and judicial
functions. Following the recommendations of the Army and Air Force
Courts-Martial Committee 1946 (the Lewis Committee) this was taken
further by effecting a complete separation of the two functions.
The prosecuting function passed to Directorates of Legal Services
which remained within the War Office and Air Ministry (latterly the
Army and RAF); whilst the Judge Advocate General's office retained
its judicial function, but under the direction of the Lord
Chancellor's Department. Later legislation affecting the JAG's
office included the Courts-Martial (Appeals) Act 1951, which
established the right to appeal against a conviction by court
martial on a point of law, a right which had not previously
existed. Following the 1996 Armed Forces Act a convicted soldier
can appeal against sentence, the appeal being heard by the Courts
Martial Appeal Court, which is composed of judges of the civil
Court of Appeal. The Armed Forces Discipline Act 2000 introduced a provision for a judicial authority to determine whether a suspect or accused should be held in custody and gave accused service personnel an earlier opportunity to elect to be tried by court-martial. It also established an appeals procedure for cases that had been dealt with summarily ie where cases are dealt with by the accused's commanding officer rather than by Court
Martial. A number of changes to the Court Martial System were also introduced under the Armed Forces Act 2001. These included extending the scope for dealing summarily with offences allegedly committed by officers; extending the eligibility for court-martial membership to warrant officers; enabling the Attorney General to seek review of certain sentences imposed by courts-martial and excluding most court-martial proceedings from the possibility of judicial review.
The Armed Forces Act 1976, and Standing Civilian
Courts and Standing Civilian Courts (Areas) Orders 1977,
established Standing Civilian Courts which have jurisdiction over
service dependants and civilians employed by the Ministry od
Defence.
Her Majesty's Courts Service
The Crown has been responsibile for the administration of the courts for over 900 years. Throughout this time, the agency now known as 'Her Majesty's Courts Service' has operated under a number of different titles, such as the Lord Chancellor's Department (LCD) and the Court Service. In 2001, the Auld review (i.e. an independent review conducted by Sir Robin Auld, a senior Appeal Court judge) recommended the most extensive review of the criminal courts system for 30 years. Among other significant changes, this led to the development of a single agency for the administration of justice, bringing together the Magistrates' Courts Service and Court Service into one administrative organisation. The Courts Act 2003 initially helped to set out a framework for the new agency 'Her Majesty's Courts Service'. Subsequently, on 1 April 2005, Her Majesty's Courts Service was launched, linking the administration of Magistrates', Crown, county and Supreme Courts together for the first time. As of 9 May 2007, Her Majesty's Courts Service (HMCS) is now an executive agency of the Ministry for Justice (formerly the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) June 2003 - 9 May 2007). Their remit is to "deliver justice effectively and efficiently to the public", which encompasses responsibility for managing the magistrates' courts, the Crown Court, county courts, the High Court and Court of Appeal in England and Wales.
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The National Archives
The Public Record Office (PRO) was established by Public Record Office Act 1838, which put into the custody of the Master of the Rolls the records, judicial, administrative and financial, of the Chancery, the Exchequer, and other ancient courts, together with the accruing records of the central courts, and provided for the appointment of a Deputy Keeper, with knowledge of records, and assistant keepers. To accommodate the records brought together following the act, the construction of a new record repository on the Rolls Estate in Chancery Lane, London began in 1851.
An order in Council of 5 March 1852 brought the records of the departments of state into the charge and superintendence of the Master of the Rolls, thus formalising an understanding of 1845-1846 with the Treasury, whereby documents were transferred to the PRO by arrangement, the departments retaining the right to recall at any time those needed for current business and to determine the accessibility of their records to researchers.
The State Paper Office was amalgamated with the PRO in 1854 and the records preserved there were transferred to the new repository in 1861.
Subsequent Public Record Office Acts of 1877 and 1898 authorised the Master of the Rolls to lay before Parliament schedules of documents in his charge not considered worthy of permanent preservation, and to make rules to be approved by order in Council, for their disposal.
In 1903 the documents in the Land Revenue Record Office were transferred to the PRO and the Deputy Keeper was appointed Keeper of the Land Revenue Records. Thereafter, enrolment business was conducted in the Public Record Office until 1961, when enrolment in the Land Revenue Record Office was abolished.
By the 1950s the cost of records storage in government was a pressing concern for the Treasury, and a parliamentary committee was set up to investigate the issue under Sir James Grigg. The recommendations of the Grigg report in 1954 led to the Public Records Act 1958. There were four main results of the Act:
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A Keeper of Public Records was appointed under the Lord Chancellor (there had previously been a Deputy Keeper, under the Master of the Rolls)
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A proper selection and destruction process was established, with two reviews, carried out by departmental staff and PRO Inspecting Officers
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The selection and transfer of material by all government departments was given the force of law
- Records were closed to public inspection for fifty years. An act of 1967 reduced the closure to thirty years, except in a few cases where longer periods are designated, usually for reasons of national security or if the opening of records is likely to cause personal distress to the descendants of people mentioned in them. A closure period of thirty years from the closing of the file in the government department allows PRO selectors to decide how significant records are in their historical, administrative and legal context.
The Master of the Rolls remained responsible for the records of the Chancery of England and retained charge and superintendence of manorial documents and of the sealed (local) copies of tithe apportionment. Registers recording the places of custody and the movements of these documents, which previously had been maintained by the PRO, became the responsibility of the Historical Manuscripts Commission in 1959. The Commission moved to separate accommodation in the same year having previously been based at the Public Record Office.
The PRO's functions were extended in April 1972 when the department took custody of the British Transport Historical Records from the British Railways Board. Under the Finance Act, 1977 the Tithe Redemption Office was closed and certain residual functions were transferred to the PRO.
A second main building was opened at Kew in south-west London in 1977, the building was equipped with modern conservation and reprographic facilities; a computerized document ordering system; and mechanical delivery of records to the reading rooms. In addition the PRO made use of additional facilities for the storage of semi or non-current records. These included Ashridge Park near Berkhamsted and an ex-ordnance factory at Hayes, Middlesex. Ashridge was given up when the Kew office was built; the management of the Hayes repository was handed over to the Ministry of Defence in April 1996. The site at Hayes is scheduled for redevelopment and the records stored there will be transferred to alternative storage accommodation in a salt mine in Winsford, Cheshire during 2004.
Under the Next Steps Initiative, and following a Scrutiny Report in 1990, the Public Record Office became an Executive Agency of the UK Government in 1992, responsible directly to the Lord Chancellor, and governed by the Keeper of Public Records and the Management Board. By the 1990s Kew had become too small to provide adequate facilities for the increasing number of readers using the PRO each year. Also, repository space was nearly full, consequently an extension to the Kew building was built and opened in December 1995.
The 1990 Scrutiny had recommended that the Chancery Lane building should close, and that all records should transfer to Kew. The move was completed in December 1996 and the PRO's microfilm reading rooms for census returns and wills moved to the Family Records Centre in Islington in March 1997. Soon the births, marriages and deaths registers from St Catherine's House joined it and together these records provide a single resource for family historians.
From April 2003 the PRO and Historical Manuscripts Commission (HMC) merged to form a new organisation called The National Archives (TNA). Following the merger, the HMC left its premises in central London and moved to the site at Kew.3
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