England and Wales
The justice system of England and Wales
One of three legal systems inside a single state, with its own police areas, its own prosecutor, its own courts and its own prison and probation service.
Facts verified:
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England and Wales is a legal system rather than a state. The state is the United Kingdom, which contains three legal systems; this is the largest of them, and it is the one in which the institutions described on these pages operate.
The clearest short demonstration that a United Kingdom statute is not automatically a uniform rule is section 3 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. It provides that the Lord Chancellor, other Ministers of the Crown and all with responsibility for matters relating to the judiciary or otherwise to the administration of justice must uphold the continued independence of the judiciary — and then, in subsection (2), disapplies that duty where imposing it would be within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. The section extends to the whole United Kingdom and carves Scotland out inside itself.
Judicial work in England and Wales is presented by the judiciary itself as six jurisdictions: civil, criminal, family, tribunals, military and coroners. Civil justice is mainly dealt with in the County Courts.
Sources
Sources
Police Act 1996, section 1 (Police areas) — legislation.gov.uk
The National Archives (United Kingdom) · Legislation · link verified 2026-09-18
SCOPE: the division of England and Wales into police areas. The official consolidated text, read directly. Supports that “England and Wales shall be divided into police areas” and that those areas are the ones listed in Schedule 1 together with the metropolitan police district and the City of London police area. The section is shown as extending to England and Wales (E+W). The extent marker is an anchor: this platform relies on it, so a run that no longer finds it fails.
The National Archives (United Kingdom) · Legislation · link verified 2026-09-18
SCOPE: the statutory guarantee of judicial independence. The official consolidated text, read directly. Supports that the Lord Chancellor, other Ministers of the Crown and all with responsibility for matters relating to the judiciary or otherwise to the administration of justice must uphold the continued independence of the judiciary, and that subsection (2) disapplies the duty where imposing it would be within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. The section is shown as extending to the whole United Kingdom (U.K.), and the Scottish carve-out inside it is the reason a U.K. extent does not mean a uniform rule.
Jurisdictions — Courts and Tribunals Judiciary
Courts and Tribunals Judiciary (England and Wales) · Government publication · link verified 2026-09-18
SCOPE: the jurisdictions into which judicial work is divided. The judiciary's own page, read directly. Supports that the work is presented as six jurisdictions — civil, criminal, family, tribunals, military and coroners — and that civil justice in England and Wales is mainly dealt with in the County Courts. It is an overview page and establishes nothing about the hierarchy of individual courts, rights of appeal, or the composition of any bench.