3. The Civil Courts

This chapter describes the civil courts in England and Wales. It covers the composition and administration of magistrates’s courts, County Court, and the High Court; jurisdiction; High Court Divisions (Queen’s Bench Division (QBD), Chancery Division (ChD), and Family Division), and specialist courts (Business and Property Courts, Technology and Construction Court, Commercial Court, Administrative Court, Companies Court, Patents Court, and Intellectual Property Enterprise Court). For most civil claims the claimant has a free choice between the High Court and the County Court. Common law claims are suitable for the Queen’s Bench Division, whereas equity claims are more suitable for the Chancery Division. The High Court should be used for the more important and complex claims.

6. The Structure of the Courts

This chapter discusses the organization of the modern court structure and what each court does. The courts in England and Wales (i.e. excluding the Supreme Court which is a UK court) are administered by a single agency, HM Courts and Tribunal Service. The courts of original jurisdiction (i.e. which hear trials of first instance) are ordinarily the magistrates’ court, county court, Crown Court, and High Court although they have now been joined by the Family Court. The Crown Court and High Court have both an original and appellate jurisdiction. The High Court is divided into three divisions (Queen’s Bench Division, Chancery Division, and Family Division) and when two or more judges sit together in the High Court it is known as a Divisional Court. The chapter also briefly describes the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Court of Protection, and Coroner’s Courts.

„Die gläserne Decke sichtbar machen!“ Egalitäre Verteilung der Haus- und Familienarbeit als Voraussetzung für egalitäre Karrierechancen

The glass ceiling is a common metaphor for describing the under-representation of women in leadership positions. According to this metaphor, there are invisible barriers which prevent women from being promoted to management positions. The article explores the causes for the under-representation of women in management positions. Specifically, it argues that, in view of the traditional domestic and family division of labor, it is rational that personnel policies favor career opportunities for men rather than women. An egalitarian distribution of domestic and family responsibilities is therefore a basis prerequisite for egalitarian career opportunities. Zusammenfassung Die gläserne Decke ist eine seit Jahrzehnten populäre Metapher, um die Unterrepräsentanz von Frauen in Führungspositionen abzubilden. Demnach bestehen in Unternehmen unsichtbare Barrieren, die Frauen davon abhalten, obere Managementpositionen zu erreichen. Der Beitrag geht der Frage nach den Ursachen für die Unterrepräsentanz von Frauen in Führungspositionen nach und zeigt auf, warum angesichts der tradierten häus­lichen, familialen Arbeitsteilung eine rationale betriebliche Personalpolitik eher Männern als Frauen Karrierechancen eröffnet. Eine egalitäre Verteilung der Haus- und Familien­arbeit zwischen den Geschlechtern ist demnach eine Grundvoraussetzung für egalitäre Karrierechancen.

3. The Civil Courts

This chapter describes the civil courts in England and Wales. It covers the composition and administration of magistrates’s courts, County Court, and the High Court; jurisdiction; High Court Divisions (Queen’s Bench Division (QBD), Chancery Division (ChD), and Family Division), and specialist courts (Business and Property Courts, Technology and Construction Court, Commercial Court, Administrative Court, Companies Court, Patents Court, and Intellectual Property Enterprise Court). For most civil claims the claimant has a free choice between the High Court and the County Court. Common law claims are suitable for the Queen’s Bench Division, whereas equity claims are more suitable for the Chancery Division. The High Court should be used for the more important and complex claims.

THE INHERITANCE FEATURES AND THE PROPERTY LAW IN THE TRADITIONAL OSSETIAN FAMILY: GENDER PERSPECTIVE

Modernization processes cover all aspects of modern Ossetian society. The family, this has led to the transformation of gender roles, traditional gender orders and a radical change in the historically established foundations of the Patriarchal form of the family. This determines the relevance of the study of intra-family relations as an important part of the gender system. In the study of the order of inheritance clearly indicated property relations, social structure and hierarchy of society, as comprehensively fixed economic relations. The article is based on the source, literary material, which allows to reconstruct the intra-family legal culture, position and status of women in the Ossetian family. In scientific circulation introduced new archival materials, mostly court cases on the distribution of property, which clearly show how to resolve intra-family conflicts in inheritance. Ethnographic materials give a description of the property aspects of family and marriage relations: the size of the bride price, the content of the dowry, the property rights of the female part of the family. The author investigates the transformation processes in inheritance, legalization of property rights of women during the introduction of Russian legislation in the region. It is concluded that the issues of family division of property, for the most part, were resolved according to the norms of customary law.

6. The Structure of the Courts

This chapter discusses the organization of the modern court structure and what each court does. The courts in England and Wales (ie excluding the Supreme Court which is a UK court) are administered by a single agency, HM Courts and Tribunal Service. The courts of original jurisdiction (ie which hear trials of first instance) are ordinarily the magistrates’ court, county court, Crown Court, and High Court although they have now been joined by the Family Court. The Crown Court and High Court have both an original and appellate jurisdiction. The High Court is divided into three divisions (Queen’s Bench Division, Chancery Division, and Family Division) and when two or more judges sit together in the High Court it is known as a Divisional Court. The chapter also briefly describes the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Court of Protection, and Coroner’s Courts.