B1.16.1 Civil Courts continued…
Chancery Division
The Chancery Division of the High Court is based in the Thomas More Building at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. It is divided between Chancery Chambers and Bankruptcy and Companies Court.
The work of the Chancery Division, which is dealt with by Chancery Chambers, includes claims relating to:
- Trust.
- Contentious probate (contesting the validity of a will).
- Companies.
- Land.
- Other claims – for example for professional negligence or breach of contract – which involve issues of trust, company, land or conveyancing law or procedure.
- Claims for dissolution of partnerships or the taking of partnership accounts.
- Claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family & Dependants) Act 1975 proceedings for breach of a restrictive covenant(an agreement in a deed which limits an owner’s use or enjoyment of his/her property); breach of trust or fiduciary duty (the duty owed by a person who is in a position of trust e.g. solicitor or trustee).
- Commercial disputes including international commercial disputes.
- Claims relating to membership of or exclusion from or dissolution of a club or other incorporated association.
- Revenue matters (i.e. appeals against various taxes such as Income Tax or VAT).
- Patents Court: intellectual property such as copyright, patents & registered designs, trademark infringements, inventions and passing off (a person’s goods or services being misrepresented as someone else’s). Proceedings in the Patents Court are issued in Chancery Registry and dealt with by Chancery Judges and Masters nominated to do so.
Family Division
The Family Division is a division of the High Court that has the jurisdiction to deal with all matrimonial matters under The Children Act 1989 and The Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985.
It also deals with:
- Matters relating to Part IV Family Law Act 1996 (Family Homes & Domestic Violence).
- Wardship and adoption applications.
- Declarations in medical treatment cases.
- Final Dissolution matters (Civil Partnerships).