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The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998
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Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso
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Law_courts
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1992-09-03
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The bodies that adjudicate in legal disputes.
Civil and criminal cases are usually dealt
with by separate courts. In many countries
there is a hierarchy of courts that provide
an appeal system. In the USA, the head of the
federal judiciary is the Supreme Court, which
also hears appeals from the inferior federal
courts and from the decisions of the highest
state courts. The US Courts of Appeal -
organized in circuits - deal with appeals
from the US district courts in which civil
and criminal cases are heard. State courts
deal with civil and criminal cases involving
state laws and usually consist of a Supreme
Court or appeals court and courts in judicial
districts. In England and Wales the court
system was reorganized under the Courts Act
1971. The higher courts are: the House of
Lords (the highest court for the whole of
Britain), which deals with both civil and
criminal appeals; the Court of Appeal, which
is divided between criminal and civil appeal
courts; the High Court of Justice dealing
with major civil cases; and the Crown Court,
which handles serious criminal cases as well
as certain civil cases. The courts are
organised in six circuits. The towns of each
circuit are first-tier (High Court and
Circuit Judges dealing with both criminal and
civil cases), second-tier (High Court and
Circuit Judges dealing with criminal cases
only), or third-tier (Circuit Judges dealing
with criminal cases only). Cases are allotted
according to gravity among High Court and
Circuit Judges and Recorders (part-time
judges with the same jurisdiction as Circuit
Judges). From 1971, solicitors were allowed
for the first time to appear in and conduct
cases at the level of the Crown Courts, and
solicitors as well as barristers of ten
years' standing became eligible for
appointment as Recorders, who after five
years become eligible as Circuit Judges. In
1989 a Green Paper propose (1) omitting the
Bar's monopoly of higher courts, removing
demarcation between barristers and
solicitors: (2) cases to be taken on a
`no-win, no-fee' basis (as already happens in
Scotland). In the UK 1989 there were 5,500
barristers and 47,000 solicito s. The lower
courts are: County Courts, dealing with minor
civil cases, and served by Circuit Judges;
Magistrates' courts, dealing with minor
criminal cases and served by Justices of the
Peace or Stipendiary (paid) Magistrates; and
Juvenile Courts, held in separate buildings
and presided over by specially qualified
justices. There are also special courts, such
as the Restrictive Practices Court and the
Employment Appeal Tribunal. In Scotland, the
supreme civil court is the Court of Session,
with appeal to the House of Lords; the
highest criminal court is the High Court of
Justiciary, with no appeal to Many counties
and municipalities also have courts, usually
limited to minor offences. There is also a
number of federal and state specialized
judicial and quasi-judicial bodies dealing
with administrative law.