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Hello and welcome to this Bench Report series on the UK Constitution. Our fourth episode focuses on the UK's three separate judicial systems.

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It does seem a bit unusual, doesn't it? Three distinct systems in one country.

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But it makes more sense when you look at the history.

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Absolutely. History shaped the structure. Should we start with England and Wales?

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So who's the head judge there?

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That would be... The Lady or Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. Quite a title.

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And the main courts, they have a specific name, right? Something from an act.

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Yes. The Senior Courts Act 1981. It officially establishes the Senior Courts of England and Wales.

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Okay. Senior Courts. What courts does that actually include?

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Well, you've got the Court of Appeal, which is split into criminal and civil divisions.

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For appeals, obviously.

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Right. Then there's the High Court of Justice. That one's divided too.

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In who?

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Chancery, King's Bench, and family divisions. So hand handling different kinds of major cases.

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And didn't you mention serious criminal cases? Where do they go? Ah,

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that's the Crown Court. It sits within that senior court structure, but specifically handles the more serious criminal trials.

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Got it. So those are the senior courts. What about the lower ones?

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Below them, you have the county courts, mostly for civil matters, and the magistrates courts.

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And magistrates courts are where most criminal cases begin.

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That's generally right, yes. They handle the initial stages and less serious offenses.

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Are there any other types of courts? Specialist ones?

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There are. A key example is the coroner's courts. They have a very specific job.

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Which is?

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Investigating certain types of deaths, sudden, violent, or unnatural ones, for instance.

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Interesting. And I read something about judges having immunity.

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That's a really important point. Judges have immunity for actions taken and words spoken in their judicial capacity.

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So they can't be sued for a judgment they make?

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Essentially, yes. It protects their ability to judge impartially without fear of personal reprisal.

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Which links to that idea of judicial independence, I suppose.

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Precisely. It's a cornerstone constitutional principle. Judges must be free from improper influence, especially from government.

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And is that just a principle or is it written down?

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It has statutory backing. There's a legal duty on government ministers and others to uphold judicial independence.

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OK, so how do people actually become judges in England and Wales? Is it political?

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No, the aim is to avoid that entirely. Appointments are meant to be based purely on merit.

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Who decides what merit means?

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There's an independent body, the Judicial Appointments Commission. They select candidates based on ability and experience. And

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then?

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They make recommendations to the Lord Chancellor, who then advises the king on the most senior appointments. It's a process designed for impartiality.

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Okay, that covers England and Wales. Shall we move north to Scotland?

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Let's. Scotland's system is quite distinct, a legacy of the active union in 1700 Right.

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They kept their own legal traditions. So what are their main courts?

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For civil cases, the highest court is the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

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And that handles judicial review too, like challenging government decisions.

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Yes. Judicial review applications go there. The Court of Session itself has two parts.

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Which are?

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The inner house, which mainly hears appeals, and the outer house, where cases often start.

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Okay. And for criminal law?

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The highest criminal court is the High Court of Justiciary. It functions both as a trial court for serious crimes and as an appeal court.

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Is there a single head judge for Scotland?

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Sort of. The head of the Court of Session, the Lord President, is also the head of the High Court of Justiciary, where they're known as the Lord Justice General.

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Ah, one person, two titles. Clever.

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It is. And below these main courts.

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You have sheriff courts. They handle a huge range of civil and criminal cases and also justice of the peace courts for more minor offenses.

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And what about judicial immunity and independence in Scotland? Similar principles.

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Very similar. Scottish judges also have absolute immunity from civil action regarding their judicial duties. and independence.

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That's strongly protected, too. The Judiciary and Court Scotland Act 2008 places a statutory duty on the first minister, government ministers and indeed everyone to uphold judicial independence.

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How are judges appointed there? Still based on merit.

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Yes. Merit is the key criterion. Recommendations come from the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland.

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And who makes the final decision?

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The recommendations go to the first minister, who then advises the king on the appointments, particularly for the senior judiciary.

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Right. So a parallel process, but distinctly Scottish. Now, what about Northern Ireland?

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Northern Ireland also has its own system, largely structured by the Judicature Northern Ireland Act, 1978.

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What are the superior courts called there?

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You have the High Court of Justice, the Court of Appeal, and the Crown Court, similar in name to England and Wales in some respects.

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And the lower courts?

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There's a single system for county courts and magistrates courts across Northern Ireland.

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Do they have coroner's courts too?

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They do, yes. Handling similar functions to those in England and Wales.

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And independence, is that enshrined in law there as well?

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Absolutely. Absolutely. The Justice Northern Ireland Act 2002 contains provisions specifically safeguarding judicial independence and requiring everyone to uphold it.

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Appointment process in Northern Ireland. How does that work?

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It's managed by the Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission, often called NIJAC.

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So another independent commission.

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Exactly. NIJAC selects candidates. Then for senior appointments, the Lord Chancellor recommends to the King, based on NIJAC's choices.

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Okay, so three separate systems, three appointment processes, all emphasizing merit and independence. But isn't there a court that links them all?

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Ah, yes. Above these three systems sits the UK Supreme Court.

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The final court of appeal for everyone.

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Almost. It's the final court of appeal for civil cases from all three jurisdictions. England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

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And criminal cases.

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It hears criminal appeals from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, but generally not from Scotland.

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Why not from Scotland for criminal matters?

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That goes back to the Treaty of Union again. Scotland's High Court of Justiciary was preserved as the final criminal court there.

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But there are exceptions.

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Yes. The Supreme Court can hear Scottish criminal cases if they involve what are called compatibility issues, like whether a law or action complies with the European Convention on Human Rights or issues related to EU law before Brexit and also on devolution matters.

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What are devolution matters?

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These relate to the powers of the devolved legislatures, the Scottish Parliament, the Senate's Simeru, Welsh Parliament, and the Northern Ireland Assembly. Basically, questions about whether they've acted within their legal authority.

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And are Supreme Court decisions binding everywhere?

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Decisions on devolution matters are binding across the whole UK. Other decisions generally apply the law of the specific part of the UK the case came from, but they can be highly influential elsewhere.

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Did setting up the Supreme Court merge the legal systems?

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No, the law that created it, the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, explicitly states that it doesn't And can anyone

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just appeal to the Supreme Court?

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No, there's no automatic right. Appeals usually require permission either from the court below or the Supreme Court itself. It's regulated by statute.

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You mentioned another court earlier, something about the Privy Council.

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Ah, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, or JCPC. That's slightly different.

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How so?

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It acts as the final court of appeal for the UK's Crown Dependencies, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, and British Overseas Territories. Also for some Commonwealth countries, though fewer now than in the past.

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So it functions like an appeal court, even though it formally advises the king.

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Exactly. Its judgments are technically advised to his majesty and council, but in practice it operates as the highest appellate court for those places.

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So pulling it all together, despite the three systems in these overarching courts, the independence of judges is paramount everywhere.

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Absolutely. That statutory duty to uphold independence to prevent undue influence is a golden thread running through all three jurisdictions.

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One last thing. Judicial review. We touched on it briefly for Scotland. What exactly is it?

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Judicial review is the mechanism courts use to scrutinize the lawfulness of decisions or actions taken by public bodies.

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Like government departments?

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Yes. Government ministers, departments, local authorities, other public bodies.

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But the court doesn't remake the decision itself.

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Generally, no. It's not about the merits, whether it was a good or bad decision in policy terms. It's about the process and legality.

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So what are they checking for?

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Things like... Did the public body have the legal power to make the decision? Did it follow the correct procedure? Was the decision unreasonable, irrational? Did it breach human rights? Was it proportionate?

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So it's about ensuring public bodies play by the rules.

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That's a good way to put it. It holds them accountable to the law passed by Parliament and the common law principles of fairness.

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Okay, I think that gives a good overview. It's complex but fascinating how it all fits together.

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It is. Three systems, yet shared principles like independence and the Supreme court providing some unity at the top level for many issues.

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So to recap, the UK features distinct judicial systems for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, each with its own court structure.

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But the UK Supreme Court acts as the final appellate court for most civil matters UK-wide and for criminal matters outside Scotland, with specific exceptions.

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And underpinning everything is that vital principle of judicial independence, protected by law in each jurisdiction.

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Couldn't have summed it up better.

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Thanks for listening. Our final episode looks at the role of central government. Hope you can join us. Take care.