The Local Courts

This blog has frequently dealt with the Supreme Courts of both the UK and USA.

UK Supreme Court -  Keeping up with Britain's top court - plans for Supreme Court - Opening in 2009 -

US Supreme Court -  US Constitution Art III - Oral arguments - Elena Kagan interview - Louis Brandeis - Packing the Court

But these courts deal with only a tiny proportion of cases. All cases start - and almost all are completed - in the local courts.

In the UK the local courts are the Magistrates Courts and the County Courts. (most places have a Crown Court relatively close to them - but they are less local - and deal with the more serious cases. The High Court has branches in London (Royal Courts of Justice) and around the country (District Registeries - Bedford; Birkenhead; Birmingham; Bradford; Bristol; Canterbury; Chester; Colchester; Croydon; Dewsbury; Halifax; Leeds; Leicester; Lincoln; Liverpool; Manchester; Newcastle upon Tyne; Norwich; Nottingham; Scarborough; Sheffield; Southampton; Teesside (In Middlesbrough); Warrington

To find details about a particular court, or courts in an area - follow this link.

Magistrates Courts have both criminal and civil jurisdiction - but it is their criminal responsibilities which are most noted. All cases start there - and 95% of cases are dealt with there (excluding appeals and referral to the Crown Court for sentencing). Some offences - "summary offences" - The least serious, which includes Driving without insurance; and Common Assault - can only be dealt with in the Magistrates Court. There are an important set of offences - such as Theft and Assault causing actual bodily harm - which are "triable either way". They can be dealt with by the Magistrates or passed on to the Crown Court where a jury sits. The Magistrates decide - but take into account the wishes of the Prosecution - and of the Defendant (There's a useful wiki from Sheffield University about the "right" to a jury trial in England - available here)

The most serious cases involve "indictable offences" - such as Murder; Manslaughter and Rape - and must be heard in the Crown Court - but preliminary hearings are held in the Magistrates Court. The old "committal proceedings" have gone - but an "Early Administrative Hearing" is held dealing with issues of legal aid and bail. The case is then sent to the Crown Court.

On the civil side the main local court is the "County Court" - despite the name they have nothing to do with the counties in England. There are 216 of them. Where a claim is for £15,000 or less, the case must be started in the County Court (£50,000 for personal injury cases).

Ryan Davies

I did a post a couple of days ago on Rhod Gilbert. There is another Welsh comedian I enjoyed listening to as a child - Ryan Davies. Sadly he passed away at the age of 40 in April 1977. He and his partner, Ronnie Williams, appeared in a Welsh language comedy on BBC - but for a couple of years, an English series was broadcast. I wish I had been able to find an episode on Youtube, but sadly I couldn't.



A short biography is available here. Having written this post, I am now going to watch the 1971 film of Under Milk Wood, in which Ryan appeared.

The BBC

There are many things to be proud of as a Brit - my top three would be The BBC, the NHS and the Magna Carta. Sadly the Magna Carta is more honoured in the USA than in Britain (even the monument in Runnymede was erected by the American Bar Association); the NHS is being shaken up to its - and our detriment; and the BBC is under attack.

The BBC is by far the best broadcaster in the UK. Many of its series and programmes are exported - and its news services are respected around the world.

The BBC is the largest broadcasting organisation in the world. Its mission is to enrich people's lives with programmes that inform, educate and entertain.

It is a public service broadcaster, established by a Royal Charter and funded by the licence fee that is paid by UK households.

There is a website giving more details of the BBC and how it is funded and run here.

As someone living in Milton Keynes I have access to a local radio station - BBC Three Counties; local news on TV via BBC Look East (western half); Terrestial and Digital radio and TV stations (my favourites are Radio 4, Radio 5, Radio 7, BBC1, BBC2, BBC Four,  and of course BBC News 24 and BBC Parliament. I use the BBC as a news source via my computer and my iPhone.

It makes me laugh...

I have become a big fan of Rhod Gilbert. Although he is from the same area in Wales that my family came from - it is in the United States that I learned to appreciate his humour. Thanks to excerpts on YouTube I was able to discover - and share with American friends some of his stories.



During my recent visit I discovered that the BBC do a podcast called "Rhod Gilbert's Best Bits", which is a selection, usually lasting about 30 minutes, of the banter on his BBC Wales radio programme each Saturday morning. I really looked forward to the new podcast each weekend while I was in Washington.  The whole programme (with music) is available on BBC iPlayer here.

US Constitution - Art V

Article V of the Constitution deals with the procedure for amending the Constitution.

The key points are - Congress may propose amendments - if two thirds of each House agree; or two thirds of the state legislatures call a Convention for the purpose of amendment. (This last procedure has never been used)

Any such amendments proposed must be ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the States (38 states at present)

Twenty Seven Amendments have been passed. The first ten are referred to collectively as "the Bill of Rights". The 18th Amendment introducing prohibition was repealed by the 21st Amendment. An article on "failed amendments" can be accessed here.