Advantages & Disadvantages of Civil Courts

Question 1

Adv - Impartial Judge

Answer 1

• Everyone is treated fairly and the judge cannot have any biased towards either party.

Question 2

Adv - Decision

Answer 2

• The trial is conducted by a legal expert with the decision made by a judge who is an experienced and qualified lawyer.
• The eventual decision will be a fair and just one.

Question 3

Adv - Enforcement

Answer 3

• Enforcement of the court’s decision is easier as any decision made by a court can be enforced through civil courts.

Question 4

Adv - Appeal Routes

Answer 4

• Specific appeal routes from decisions made in the courts, so, if the claimant is not happy with the decision, it is usually possible to appeal against it.

Question 5

Adv - Legal Aid

Answer 5

• It may be possible to get legal aid, although legal aid for civil cases has been considerably reduced.
• Could be seen as unfair as people who are poor and need the legal aid still may not get access to it.

Question 6

DisAdv - Cost

Answer 6

• Taking cases to courts are more than the amount claimed.
• In High Court, the cost can be hundreds of thousands of pounds.
• Smaller claims, costs are often more than the amount claimed.

Question 7

DisAdv - Delay

Answer 7

• Many preliminary stages to go through to add to the length of the case.
• After the case is set down for hearing at court there is still a long wait.
• Hearings are usually about one year for larger claims.
• The total time means that some cases aren’t heard for years.

Question 8

DisAdv - Complicated Process

Answer 8

• Compulsory steps need to be taken before a case is heard in court.
• For some types of cases, parties must use the pre-action protocols and give the other party certain amount of info.
• When a case starts, there are forms that need to be filled out - set out in the civil procedure rules.
• Hard for an ordinary person to take a case without legal advice and help.

Question 9

DisAdv - Uncertainty

Answer 9

• There’s no guarantee of winning, therefore there is lost time and money either way.
• The person who loses may even have to pay the oppositions costs.
• This makes it difficult to know how much a case is going to cost in advance.
• Delays in cases can also add to uncertainty and cost.