High Court

The term most often used to refer to the superior court of a country or state. In some countries, such as Australia, it may refer to the highest court. In others, it may be positioned lower in the hierarchy. The High Court in England does not have the highest superiority, as that belongs to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. In England, the High Court is the highest civil court of first instance, meaning a court in which legal cases are first heard. It is divided up into three key sections: the Family Division, the Queen’s Bench Division, and the Chancery Division. The Queen’s Bench Division mainly presides over civil damage cases including contract breaches and torts. The Family Division presides over cases such as divorce, custody, and residence of children. The Chancery Division, sometimes also referred to as the Lord Chancellor’s Court, presides over cases relating to mortgages, properties, trusts, and wills. It is further broken down into two additional divisions, the Companies Court and the Patents court, to handle company law and intellectual property ownership claims.