Specialist courts
In addition to the
Divisions within the High Court, there also are two specialist courts which,
although not actually part of the High Court, are equivalent in status. These are:
• the Restrictive
Practices Court, established by statute in 1956, which hears cases relating to
the area of commercial law concerned with whether an agreement is unlawful
owing to the extent to which it restricts the trading capabilities of one of the
parties. One QBD judge sits with specialist laypersons to hear these cases; and
• the Employment
Appeal Tribunal, which is presided over by similar panels, hearing appeals from
employment tribunals.
HOUSE OF LORDS
Acting in its
judicial, as opposed to its legislative, capacity, the House of Lords is the final
court of appeal in civil as well as criminal law. For most cases, five Lords
will sit to hear the appeal, but seven are sometimes convened to hear very
important cases.
JUDICIAL COMMITTEE OF
THE PRIVY COUNCIL
As with criminal law,
the Privy Council is the final court of appeal for certain Commonwealth
countries which have retained this option and from some independent members and
associate members of the Commonwealth. In practice, most of the appeals heard
by the Committee are civil cases.
The decisions of the Privy Council
are very influential in English courts because they concern points of law that
are applicable in this jurisdiction and are pronounced upon by Lords of Appeal
in Ordinary in a way which is thus tantamount to a House of Lords ruling.
Technically, however, these decisions are of persuasive authority only, although
they are normally followed by English courts.
THE EUROPEAN COURT OF
JUSTICE
The function of the
European Court of Justice which sits in Luxembourg, is to ensure that ‘in the
interpretation and application of this Treaty the law is observed’ The ECJ is
the ultimate authority on Community law. As the Treaty is often composed in
general terms, the Court is often called upon to provide the necessary detail
for EC law to operate. By virtue of the European Communities Act 1972, EC law
has been enacted into English law, so the decisions of the court have direct
authority in the English jurisdiction.
The court hears disputes between
nations and between nations and the institutions of the European Union such as
the European Commission. Individuals, however, can only bring an action if they
are challenging a decision which affects them personally
THE EUROPEAN COURT OF
HUMAN RIGHTS
This Court is the
supreme court of the Council of Europe, that is, those States within Europe
which have accepted to be bound by the European Convention on Human Rights. It
has to be established, and emphasised, from the outset that the substance of
this section has absolutely nothing to do with the EU as such; the Council of
Europe is a completely distinct organisation and, although membership of the
two organisations overlap, they are not the same. The Council of Europe is
concerned not with economic matters but with the protection of civil rights and
freedoms.
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