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THE COURTS

Criminal cases Most of these are dealt with by magistrates' courts, presided over by magistrates, who are lay justices (JPs). The busiest have full-time paid judges, formerly called stipendiaries but now known as district judges (magistrates' courts). Refer to them simply as District Judge Joe Smith etc. The more serious criminal cases are heard in the Crown Court, of which the most famous (in the City of London) is the Central Criminal Court, or Old Bailey (either form acceptable). Always cap Crown Court and never use crown courts in the plural. Write Court No 1 etc. To find courts, use the court locator

Civil cases These are heard in magistrates' courts and county courts, the more serious in the High Court, which has three divisions - the Queen's Bench, Chancery and Family Divisions (cap Division in full title). In London they are based at the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand.

The Divisional Court of the Queen's Bench Division can quash decisions by magistrates' courts and hear appeals from lower courts on points of law. It is also the court for reviewing governmental bodies' or local authorities' decisions - judicial review. Distinguish between applications for leave and the main hearing.

Court of Appeal Always use the full title at first mention and wherever possible thereafter, though appeal court (l/c) may be used sparingly. The court sits with three judges, who are Lords Justices of Appeal. The highest court in the land is the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords (though normally the House of Lords or simply the law lords [l/c] will suffice); they are the most senior judges, formally called the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary.

Scottish courts Court of Session, Edinburgh (for civil actions); High Court of Justiciary (prosecution of serious crimes and criminal appeals); the senior judge is Lord President (of the Court of Session) and also Lord Justice-General (in High Court); others are Lord Justice-Clerk (in both) and, formally, Lords of Session and Lords Commissioners of Justiciary. Sheriff (not sheriff's) Courts deal with less serious criminal and civil cases.

Other points in Scotland: advocate (equivalent of English barrister); the Crown prosecutors are the Lord Advocate and Advocates-Depute and (in each sheriffdom) the Procurator Fiscal (plural, Procurators Fiscal); in civil actions, pursuer (equivalent of plaintiff), defender (the defendant), summons (writ containing pursuer's case).

Note that youth courts have replaced the former juvenile courts.

Diplock court: a non-jury court in Northern Ireland to try terrorist cases.

Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT; note singular Appeal, despite evidence to the contrary on its website) is part of the High Court and should be referred to in full at first mention, then the appeal tribunal (not simply the tribunal). It is not the same as an employment tribunal, which replaced the industrial tribunal, and which can be referred to as the tribunal at second mention.

employment tribunals have replaced industrial tribunals

JUDGES

In magistrates' courts, the bench is always l/c.

The district judge replaced the county court registrar and is referred to (at first mention) as, eg, District Judge Fred Brown.

At the Central Criminal Court, the Recorder of the City of London is usually referred to as “the Recorder”. Note caps for the Common Serjeant. The Recorder of London, Recorder of Liverpool and Recorder of Manchester (and no other places) are circuit judges and are referred to at first mention as Judge Andrew Gilbart, the Recorder of Manchester etc (thereafter the recorder, not Mr Recorder).

A circuit judge sits either in the Crown Court or in the county court and should be referred to as Judge Joe Bean, QC, (the QC where appropriate). Circuit judges may also sit in the High Court, in which case they should be described as “Judge Joe Bean, sitting as a High Court judge ...”

High Court judges should be referred to as Mr (or Mrs) Justice Bean throughout. Christian (or first) names are not normally necessary unless there are two or more High Court judges with the same surname, where it is essential to differentiate. These judges have a knighthood and may also be described as Sir John Bean, Dame Eleanor Bean etc, but generally only out of the court context.

Court of Appeal judges are Lords Justices of Appeal. Use Lord Justice Bean throughout, or out of court context, Sir John Bean. Note that Lady Justice Butler-Sloss, although President of the Family Division, was styled Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss. Also Lord Justice Brooke (not Brook).

House of Lords, or law lords (note l/c), the most senior judges, are the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary. Call them Lord Bean, in or out of court; first mention, give full title, eg, Lord Bean of Muckleflugga, thereafter Lord Bean. When writing about their judgments, say “the House of Lords ruled” or “the law lords ruled”.

retired judges should be referred to as follows:

Retired High Court judges, Sir Ivan Parsons

retired Crown Court judges, George Vickers, QC, (first mention), then Mr Vickers.

COURT REPORTING

In general, use l/c for titles etc except when in full or specific; thus, Anthony Bloggs, QC, the Recorder (thereafter the recorder), the West London Magistrate, Chelmsford Crown Court, Horseferry Road Magistrates' Court, Dawlish Magistrates' Court (caps on first mention), etc; but “the court was told”, “the judge said”, “the magistrate ordered” etc. The Bench is capped only when referring to the judges as a group; a bench of magistrates is always l/c. Always cap the Bar and the Inn (even when used on its own). To find courts, use the court locator

Criminal cases: lawyers here appear “for the prosecution”, “for the defence” (avoid “prosecuting”, “defending”). To “admit” or “deny” an offence is preferred to “pleads guilty” or “pleads not guilty”, though the latter form is not banned.

Seek legal guidance before naming anybody under 17 in any court case.

Do not report details of sex offences involving children and do not allow sex trial reports to become surreptitious pornography.

Also, do not identify any victims of alleged sexual offences.

At the end of a court report, say if the trial - or the hearing, in a civil case - continues. Always give the verdict at the end of a trial or hearing.

Defendants take their Mr, Mrs etc until they are convicted. See appellations.

Civil cases: the parties in civil cases are the claimant (formerly the plaintiff) and the defendant. Say “counsel for Mrs Y” rather than “counsel for the claimant” etc. In judicial review, the person challenging the decision is the applicant.

Appeals: in criminal cases, the defendant becomes the appellant; the respondent is usually the Crown. Say “counsel for Mr Smith” rather than “counsel for the appellant”. In civil appeals, either the claimant (formerly the plaintiff) or the defendant can be the appellant; it is always better to identify the parties and then avoid the phrase counsel for the appellant/respondent wherever possible.

Legal officers: cap Official Solicitor, Treasury Solicitor, Senior Official Receiver (but note l/c official receiver, because there are several). These should be distinguished from the law officers, who are the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General (hyphens).

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) heads the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), whose lawyers are Crown prosecutors.

Solicitors: never refer to a “company” of solicitors - they are always “firms”. Always omit Messrs before the firm's name, eg, simply Sue, Grabbit & Runne. See firm

Law Report cases cited go in italics, eg, Gornall v Ritter and in Gornall's case. In news reports and features, roman should be retained.

Inns of Court order of precedence is Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Gray's Inn.

Coroner's court: at inquests, the coroner is l/c unless specific, as in the Westminster Coroner. Juries return the verdict, the coroner records it. Be careful not to describe pathologists automatically as a Home Office pathologist - most are private consultants, so always check and use simply “the pathologist” if in doubt. There are no coroner's inquests in Scotland: sudden deaths are reported to the Procurator Fiscal, who may hold a fatal accident inquiry.

Latin phrases go in roman, eg, mandamus, habeas corpus, certiorari etc, but maxims take italic, eg, caveat emptor.

An important reminder: in court reports, it is Times style to use the phrases for the prosecution and for the defence, rather than simply prosecuting and defending.

silk: barristers take silk and become silks (all l/c)

recorders: when part-time judges, barristers or solicitors are sitting as recorders, refer to them as, eg, Donald Williams, QC, (where appropriate) the Recorder (later mentions, Mr Williams or the recorder); never say Mr Recorder Williams etc.

small claims court (l/c, as not its official title)

Criminal Bar (caps); similarly, the Commercial Bar etc

no-win, no-fee legislation/agreement etc

commercial court l/c, as not an official division of the High Court (unlike the Family Division, Queen's Bench Division etc)

guidelines on when to cap courts: cap all courts when specific, eg Birmingham Crown Court, Clerkenwell County Court, Dawlish Magistrates' Court, Ashford Youth Court etc; in a general, unspecific context, always cap the High Court, and the Crown Court (it sits in about 90 centres); but l/c county court, magistrates' court, youth court etc

cap President of the Law Society and Chairman of the Bar Council

Office for the Supervision of Solicitors (no longer the Solicitors Complaints Bureau)

new legal bodies or services (from 1999): Legal Services Commission; Community Legal Service; Criminal Defence Service (all caps)

Woolf reforms In April 1999 new procedural rules for the conduct of civil litigation came into force, including important changes of terminology. These included:

a plaintiff becoming a claimant

a writ becoming a claim form

all pleadings becoming statements of case

affidavits have become very rare; most written evidence is simply verified by a statement of truth

notices of application are served in the place of summonses.

The means by which justice will be speeded up and administered is allocation to the appropriate track: the small claims track (up to £5,000), the fast track (up to £15,000), and the multitrack (the rest)

"magic circle", l/c and quotes at first mention, for top City law firms.

affidavit a written declaration on oath. Such phrases as "sworn affidavit" and "he swore an affidavit" are therefore tautologous

Magistrates' Association, the note apostrophe

solicitor-advocate takes a hyphen

Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service may be abbreviated to Cafcass

jail, jailer (not gaol, gaoler): remember that an offender aged 15 cannot be "jailed"; he or she is sentenced to detention in a young offender institution (qv)

jail sentences totting up the total number of years to which a number of defendants have been jailed is meaningless. Give the sentences of named individuals. If room does not allow, list the sentences of principal offenders and report that so many other people were jailed or whatever.

INTERNATIONAL COURTS

The International Court of Justice sits in The Hague. It is the judicial organ of the UN and only states can be parties there.

The European Court of Justice is the shortened (and usual) form of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, and sits in Luxembourg. The Advocate General (caps, no hyphen) sits in the European Court, presents the case to the court and delivers an opinion, then the court makes its judgment.

The Court of Auditors (which sits in Luxembourg) is the fifth institution of the EU, under the Maastricht treaty. (The others are the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the European Court of Justice and the European Parliament.)

The European Court of Human Rights sits in Strasbourg. It is the judicial body of the Council of Europe (not an EC or EU body); the human rights court rules on cases brought against states under the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, usually referred to as the European Convention on Human Rights. From November 1998, the European Court of Human Rights has incorporated the former European Commission of Human Rights, which no longer exists.

In the Strasbourg context note that neither the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe nor the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe is an EU institution.

The International Criminal Court (ICC), based in The Hague, has jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the most horrific of crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Its jurisdiction is complementary to national courts, and it will act only when countries are unable or unwilling to investigate or prosecute. Established by multilateral treaty, it is independent of the UN and was designed to replace the UN system of ad hoc tribunals, eg, for Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia.

Last edited: July 6, 2009