To anyone who has never had any reason to go to court, the British court system—or really, “systems”—can seem pretty daunting. Encompassing three distinct jurisdictions with foundations going back hundreds of years, it’s no wonder some of our senior court buildings look more like historical monuments than the day-to-day engine rooms of the law. But the courts are not just some quaint tradition—and knowing how to navigate them is tantamount to knowing our rights. When mapped out, it’s also clear that our current system is perhaps not quite as old as we might think: the Supreme Court itself has been the last court of appeal for all civil cases—as well as all criminal, except in Scotland—since just 2009. The picture that emerges is of a system, the product of centuries, that continues to evolve to this day.