The Court of Appeal

Although the Court of Appeal is nominally one court, it is divided into a Criminal Division and a Civil Division. The principal jurisdiction of both Divisions is – perhaps obviously – appellate.

The Criminal Division hears appeals from the Crown Court against either conviction or sentence or both. It also has a limited quasi-appellate jurisdiction, hearing certain types of cases which are referred to it by the Attorney-General or the Criminal Cases Review Commission. These cases arise from acquittals by juries, sentences passed by the Crown Court which the prosecution consider to be too lenient, and convictions which are alleged to have been miscarriages of justice.

The Civil Division hears appeals from both the County Courts and the High Court.

The Lord Chief Justice, who is also the Head of the Judiciary, presides over the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal, while the Master of the Rolls presides over the Civil Division. The other judges of the Court of Appeal are formally known as Lord Justices of Appeal. The written styles of the Lord Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls are, respectively, Lord (or Baroness) Green, CJ and Lord (or Baroness) Grey, MR; or, where the Master of the Rolls has not yet been granted a peerage, Sir John (or Lady Mary) Grey, MR, but the spoken usage is to give the title in full: for example Lord Green, Lord Chief Justice. The other judges of the Court of Appeal have the written style of Blank LJ, which is spoken as Lord (or Lady) Justice Blank.