Part A Essential elements of the legal system 1: Law and the legal system 11
3.7 The High Court
The High Court is organised into three Divisions, each of which hears particular types of case:
Queen's Bench Division
Chancery Division
Family Division
Rather confusingly, each Division of the High Court has a Divisional Court. The role of a Divisional Court
is to hear appeals, as we have already seen, from:
The Magistrates’ Courts (on a point of law to Divisional Courts of the Family Division or QBD as
relevant)
The County Court (to one of the three Divisional Courts as relevant)
The Crown Court (on a point of law to the Divisional Court of QBD)
3.7.1 Queen's Bench Division
The Queen's Bench Division (QBD) deals mainly with common law matters, such as:
Actions based on contract or tort
Some appeals from the County Court
Appeals by way of case stated from Magistrates' Courts
Some appeals from the Crown Court
It also has a supervisory role over inferior courts. It is the largest of the three divisions, having 73 judges
of which the Principal Judge is the Lord Chief Justice. It includes a separate Admiralty Court to deal with
shipping matters, and a Commercial Court which specialises in commercial cases. The QBD sits in London
and a small number of large cities in England and Wales. It may issue a writ of habeas corpus, which is an
order for the release of a person wrongfully detained, and also prerogative orders against inferior courts,
tribunals and other bodies such as local authorities.
There are three types of prerogative order.
A mandatory order requiring the court or other body to carry out a public duty
A prohibitory order preventing a court or tribunal from exceeding its jurisdiction
A quashing order ordering a court or tribunal which has taken action to submit the record of its
proceedings to the High Court for review
3.7.2 Chancery Division
This division headed by the Lord Chancellor, deals with traditional equity matters.
Trusts and mortgages
Revenue matters
Bankruptcy (though outside London this is a County Court subject)
Disputed wills and administration of estates of deceased persons
Partnership and company matters
There is a separate Companies Court within the division which deals with liquidations and other company
proceedings, and a Patents Court established under the Patents Act 1977.
3.7.3 Family Division
This division deals with:
Matrimonial cases
Family property cases
Proceedings relating to children (wardship, guardianship, adoption, legitimacy)
Appeals from Magistrates' Courts on family matters
Appeals from County Courts on family matters