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There are quite a few similarities between the UK and the US court systems. Most cases are subject to a three-court (instance) hierarchy. In both countries, cases are first heard at lower courts (Crown Court in the UK, District Court in the US) before moving on to a Court of Appeal, and finally being resolved by a Supreme Court, if necessary.

There are a lot of of differences between the Bulgarian and the UK court system. The major contrast is that cases in the UK are subdivided into criminal vs civil and separate courts are responsible for each of the two thematic areas. Such division does not exist in the Bulgarian system. In addition, in the UK cases at first instance may be heard by a number of courts: Her Majesty's Court of Justice, the Magistrates' Court, the Crown Court, or the County Courts. In Bulgaria, Regional Courts are the main first-instance institutions, with occasional cases heard at first instance at District Courts.

In the UK they have The House of Lords as the highest appeal court. That is what we in Bulgaria call the Supreme Court of Cassation.

The Bulgarian court system has three-instance hierarchy, but it does not have separate courts responsible for criminal and civil cases.

The US court system does not have separate courts for criminal and civil cases. Instead it has a three-instance system both at the state and the federal level.

The Magistrate's Court in the UK is the lowest level of criminal court which has some civil jurisdiction in family and licensing matters.There is no comparable institution in Bulgaria’s judicial system.

In the UK, they have County Courts. These are more or less equivalent to the Bulgarian Regional Courts; however, UK Country Courts have purely civil jurisdiction while Bulgarian Regional Courts examine both criminal and civil cases.