Case Assignment English Courts: A study of case assignment and impartiality in six European jurisdictions

Our report is concerned with the laws as they regulate judges with regard to case allocation and considers this in relation to four fields of practice. The first is commercial law where we investigate allocation in the Commercial Court and the Court of Appeal. Next is criminal law where we investigate allocation in a magistrates’ court and the Crown Court. Thirdly we examine welfare law and the Social Security Appeal Tribunal and finally family law, where we consider the High Court Family Division and the Inner London Family Proceedings Court.2 Before commencing our report on these four fields, we explain the general jurisdictional and administrative context within which the judges operate, and look at the general principles which shape the relationship between judicial integrity and case management and allocation.