The Judicial College, formerly the Judicial Studies Board (JSB), established in 1979, is the organisation responsible for training

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

s in

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

, the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

, and higher courts in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is En ...

and tribunals judges in England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This includes the training of

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

s and the chairmen and members of tribunals. The current chairman is Lady Justice Anne Rafferty, DBE. The name changed from Judicial Studies Board to Judicial College on 1 April 2011. An essential element of the philosophy of the Judicial College is that the training of judges and magistrates is under judicial control and direction. A circuit judge, currently Andrew Hatton, is seconded to the Judicial College as Director of Training for Courts. Employment Judge Christa Christensen is seconded as the Director of Training for Tribunals. They are also the Joint Deans of the Faculty of the Judicial College. Roberts, a legally-trained

criminologist Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and ...

who studies

forensic science Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal ...

, argues that decisions surrounding the admissibility of expert evidence in English Law are mostly governed by

soft law The term ''soft law'' refers to quasi-legal instruments (like recommendations or guidelines) which do not have any legally binding force, or whose binding force is somewhat weaker than the binding force of traditional law. Soft law is often contras ...

based on advice by the Judicial College and various

professional associations A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that profession, and th ...

''Guidelines for the Assessment of General Damages in Personal Injury Cases''

The Judicial College produces a book called the ''Guidelines for the Assessment of General Damages in Personal Injury Cases'', which is published by Oxford University Press. As of April 2022 there have been 16 editions of this book. All judges hearing cases involving personal injury automatically receive a copy of this book. The book was prepared by a working group under the chairmanship of Judge Roger Cox to address the problem of deciding damages in personal injury claims, and was designed to "distil the conventional wisdom found in reported cases", but was not intended as a "different approach to the problem". It contains no references to the reported cases on which it is based. These guidelines do not form part of law but are referred to by judges when awarding damages. A similar publication in Ireland is available free of charge on the internet. In other countries, commercial publications such as "Personal Injury Damages" in Canada perform a similar role.

References

External links

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