238 THE BRITISH APPROACH TO POLITICS

without recourse to the expensive machinery of the High Court.
Since that date other types of civil business have been handed
over to the County Court. The growth of social and economic
legislation has also added to their work; workmen who consider
they have not received due compensation for injury suffered in
their employment, and tenants and landlords disputing about
their rights under the Rent Restriction Acts, bring their cases to
the County Court. The Acts which empower local authorities
to deal with sanitation, housing, street widening, and recon-
struction, create a good deal of litigation; landlords may be
required to pay penalties for not observing sanitary regulations,
individuals may be aggrieved by the decision of a local council to
create a car park in a particular place. Business of this type, how-
ever, though sometimes appearing in the County Court, is usually
handled by a Court of Summary Jurisdiction in its civil capacity.
County Courts are presided over by a Judge1 who will be a
barrister appointed by the Lord Chancellor. After hearing the
plaintiff and defendant, who may be represented by solicitors or
barristers, the Judge gives his decision, though occasionally a
jury of eight persons is summoned to decide disputed matters
of fact. It is possible to appeal from the decision of a County
Court to the Court of Appeal. The County Court's jurisdiction
is limited to cases involving not more than £100, or, for special
types of case, larger sums up to £500. Although these are civil
courts, they can issue orders requiring debtors to make payments,
and neglect of such an order may lead to criminal proceedings
and imprisonment. Hence it is that though imprisonment for debt
has nominally been abolished, about one-fifth of the people who
go to prison do so because they have disobeyed court orders
by not paying debts. County Court Judges, however, distinguish
between the careless debtor who makes no effort to pay, and the
victim of an extortionate moneylender, or an unreasonable hire
purchase contract. Before committing a debtor to prison, the

1 Referred to as His Honour Judge So-and-so: a High Court Judge
is known as, e.g; Mr. Justice Avory.