A
county court is a
courtA court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
based in or with a
jurisdictionJurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...
covering one or more
countiesA county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
, which are
administrative divisionAn administrative division, subnational entity, or country subdivision is a portion of a country or other political division, established for the purpose of government. Administrative divisions are each granted a certain degree of autonomy, and are required to manage themselves through their own...
s (subnational entities) within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of
county courts held by the
High SheriffA high sheriff is, or was, a law enforcement officer in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.In England and Wales, the office is unpaid and partly ceremonial, appointed by the Crown through a warrant from the Privy Council. In Cornwall, the High Sheriff is appointed by the Duke of...
of each county.
England and Wales
County Court matters can be lodged at a court in person, by post or via the internet in some cases through the
County Court Bulk CentreThe County Court Bulk Centre is a County Court in England and Wales created to deal with claims by the use of various electronic media.Unlike other County Courts the CCBC does not physically hear cases...
. Cases are normally heard at the court having jurisdiction over the area where the defendant lives. Most matters are decided by a District Judge or Circuit Judge sitting alone. Civil matters in England (with minor exceptions, e.g. in some actions against the police) do not have juries. Judges in the County Courts are either former barristers or solicitors, whereas in the High Courts they are more likely to have formerly been a
barristerA barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
.
Civil claims with an
amount in controversyAmount in controversy is a term used in United States civil procedure to denote the amount at stake in a lawsuit, in particular in connection with a requirement that persons seeking to bring a lawsuit in a particular court must be suing for a certain minimum amount before that court may hear the...
under £5,000 are dealt with in the County Court under the
Small Claims TrackSmall-claims courts have limited jurisdiction to hear civil cases between private litigants. Courts authorized to try small claims may also have other judicial functions, and the name by which such a court is known varies by jurisdiction; it may be known as a county or magistrate's court...
(sometimes known to the lay public as "Small Claims Court," although it is not a separate court). Claims between £5,000 and £25,000 (£15,000 for cases started before April 2009) that are capable of being tried within one day are allocated to the "Fast Track" and claims over £25,000 (£15,000 for cases started before April 2009) to the "Multi Track." These 'tracks' are labels for the use of the court system - the actual cases will be heard in the County Court or the High Court depending on their value. For
personal injuryPersonal injury is a legal term for an injury to the body, mind or emotions, as opposed to an injury to property. The term is most commonly used to refer to a type of tort lawsuit alleging that the plaintiff's injury has been caused by the negligence of another, but also arises in defamation...
, defamation, and some landlord-tenant dispute cases the thresholds for each track have different values.
Appeals are to a higher judge (Circuit Judge hears District Judge appeals), the
High Court of JusticeThe High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
or to the
Court of AppealThe Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...
.
In debt cases, the aim of a plaintiff taking County Court action against a Defendant is to secure a County Court Judgment. This is a legal order to pay the full amount of the debt. Judgments can be enforced at the request of the plaintiff in a number of ways, including requesting the Court Bailiffs to seize goods, the proceeds of any sale being used to pay the debt, or an Attachment of Earnings Order, where the defendant's employer is ordered to make deductions from the gross wages to pay the plaintiff.
County Court Judgments are recorded in the
Register of Judgments, Orders and FinesThe Register of Judgment, Orders and Fines is a statutory register in England and Wales that maintains a record of:*Judgments entered in the High Court;*Judgments entered in county courts;...
and in the defendant's credit records held by credit reference agencies. This information is used in consumer
credit scoreA credit score is a numerical expression based on a statistical analysis of a person's credit files, to represent the creditworthiness of that person...
s, making it difficult or more expensive for the defendant to obtain credit. In order to avoid the record being kept for years in the Register, the debt must be settled within 30 days after the date the County Court Judgement was served (unless the judgement was later set aside). If the debt was not fully paid within the statutory period, the entry will remain for six full years.
Australia
County Court is the name given to the intermediate court in some
Australian statesThe Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a...
. For example, the
County Court of VictoriaThe County Court of Victoria was established in 1852 by the County Courts Act 1852. The court has jurisdiction in the State of Victoria, Australia...
). They hear indictable (serious) criminal offences excluding treason, murder and manslaughter. Their civil jurisdiction is also intermediate, typically being for civil disputes where the amount claimed is greater than a few tens of thousands of dollars but less than a few hundreds of thousands of dollars. The limits vary between States. In some States the same level of Court is called a District Court. Below them are the Magistrates' (or Local) Courts. Above them are the State Supreme Courts. Some States adopt the two-tier appellate system, with the magistrates courts below and the Supreme Courts above.
United States
Many
statesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
have a county court, which may be purely administrative (such as in
MissouriMissouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
) or may have
jurisdictionJurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...
over
criminalCriminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
cases such as
feloniesA felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
(such as in New York).
In those states with an administrative county court, the body acts as the executive agency for the local government. For example, Harry S Truman was county judge of
Jackson County, MissouriJackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. With a population of 674,158 in the 2010 census, Jackson County is the second most populous of Missouri's counties, after St. Louis County. Kansas City, the state's most populous city and focus city of the Kansas City Metropolitan...
in the 1930s, an executive position rather than a judicial post.
In the states that have a judicial county court, such as New York, it generally handles trials for felonies, as well as appeals of
misdemeanorA misdemeanor is a "lesser" criminal act in many common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished much less severely than felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions and regulatory offences...
s from local courts and some small claims cases. It is a court of
original jurisdictionThe original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a court has the power to review a lower court's decision.-France:...
, and thus handles mostly trials of accused felons. The New York County Court "is established in each county outside New York City. It is authorized to handle the prosecution of all crimes committed within the County. The County Court also has limited jurisdiction in civil cases ...." More specifically, the New York County Court is:
In New York City, the
New York City Criminal CourtThe New York City Criminal Court is the general term describing the entry-level court for criminal cases in the five boroughs of New York City....
handles such jurisdiction.
Otherwise in the United States, the courts of original jurisdiction in most states have jurisdiction over a particular county, parish, shire, or borough; but instead of being called "county court" they are called "superior court" or "circuit court". Multiple courts of typically limited original jurisdiction within a county are usually called "district courts" or, if located in and serving a particular municipality, "municipal courts"; and are subordinate to the county superior or circuit court. In New York, 'superior'/'circuit' courts are called "supreme court".
Ireland
Prior to 1924, the County Court was the main civil court in
IrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, having jurisdiction over most civil matters, except for the larger actions which were heard by the High Court of Justice in Ireland or the
AssizesThe Courts of Assizes or Assizes were the higher criminal court in Ireland outside Dublin prior to 1924 . They have now been abolished in both jurisdictions.-Jurisdiction:...
. Its jurisidction was similar to that of the County Court in England and Wales. However, it differed from that court in its procedures. Claims were initiated by way of
civil bill. Most matters were tried by a County Court Judge, and where necessary, a jury. The main administrative officer of the County Court in earch county was the Clerk of the Crown and Peace.
The
Courts of Justice Act 1924The Courts of Justice Act, 1924 was an Act of the Oireachtas that established the courts system of the Irish Free State pursuant to the Constitution of the Irish Free State...
abolished the County Court in the
Irish Free StateThe Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
and transferred its jurisdiction (together with that of Quarter Sessions) to the
Circuit CourtThe Circuit Court is an intermediate level court of local and limited jurisdiction in the Republic of Ireland which hears both civil and criminal matters. On the criminal side the Circuit Court hears criminal matters tried on indictment with a judge and jury, except for certain serious crimes...
. The Circuit Court is still based on the organisational structure established for the County Court and the main administrative officer of each Circuit Court is now called the County Registrar.
The County Court continues to exist in Northern Ireland. Civil bills are still used as the initiation document for Circuit Court/County Court claims in both Irish jurisdictions, unlike in England and Wales.
See also
- County Court Bailiff
County Court Bailiffs are employees of Her Majesty's Courts Service and are responsible for enforcing orders of County Courts by recovering money owed under County Court Judgments. They can seize and sell goods to recover the amount of the debt...
- Judiciary of England and Wales
There are various levels of judiciary in England and Wales — different types of courts have different styles of judges. They also form a strict hierarchy of importance, in line with the order of the courts in which they sit, so that judges of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales are generally...
- Courts of New York
Courts of New York include:State courts of New York*New York Court of Appeals**New York State Circuit Courts **New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division ***New York Supreme Court...