Chief Judge of the High Court and three Vice-Presidents. The Court of First Instance It has unlimited jurisdiction in both civil and criminal matters. It also exercises jurisdiction in admiralty, bankruptcy, company winding-up, family, adoption, probate and mental health matters. The most serious criminal offences, such as murder, manslaughter, rape, armed robbery, complex commercial frauds and drug offences involving large quantities, are tried by a judge of the Court of First Instance, sitting with a jury consisting of seven or, when a judge so orders, nine. There are approximately 42 Judges and Deputy Judges of the Court of First Instance. The District Court The District Court, established in 1953, is the intermediate court of Hong Kong. It has limited jurisdiction in both civil and criminal matters. With effect from 3 December 2018, it has civil jurisdiction to hear monetary claims up to $3 million; or where the claims are for the recovery of land, of which the annual rent or rateable value does not exceed $320,000. In its criminal jurisdiction, the court may try the more serious cases, with the main exceptions of murder, manslaughter and rape. The maximum term of imprisonment it may impose is seven years. There are one Chief District Judge and 30 District Judges, among which three District Judges sit in the Family Court and two District Judges sit in the Lands Tribunal as Presiding Officers. Forms of Address District Judges are always referred to directly in court as "Your Honour", and indirectly (orally or in writing) as "His/Her Honour Judge ...". The Chief District Judge may be referred to in writing by adding the post-nominal "CDJ" and the Principal Family Court Judge by adding the post-nominal "PFCJ". Other District Court Judges are referred to in writing by adding the pre-nominal "HHJ ...". Deputy District Court Judges may be referred to directly in court as "Your Honour" but indirectly (orally or in writing) they are referred to as "Deputy District Judge ...". Family Court The Family Court is a division of the District Court which is assigned by the Chief Justice to deal with Family cases. Under section 10A of the Matrimonial Causes Ordinance (Cap.179), all family and matrimonial proceedings commence in the District Court (and are assigned to the Family Court). A Family judge may transfer a case to the High Court if it involves high monetary value claims and/or highly complex matters of fact