Civil Cases And How To Pursue Them

Question 1

Why should pursuing a court case be a last resort?

Answer 1

• They are expensive.
• They can be more expensive if you lose your case and have to pay the other parties costs.
• The matter could of been solved by negotiation.

Question 2

What is the first recommended step before going to court?

Answer 2

Negotiation

Question 3

What is the second recommended step before going to court?

Answer 3

To seek legal advice, solicitor will usually write a letter to the other party outlining the claim which may cause them to back down by itself.

Question 4

How many civil disputes end up in court?

Answer 4

Fewer than 1%

Question 5

How many County Courts are around the country?

Answer 5

200

Question 6

What do the County Courts deal with?

Answer 6

• Contract and Tort cases.
• Recovery of land cases (evictions)
• Disputes of partnerships, trusts and inheritance up to £350,000

Question 7

What judges hear County Court cases?

Answer 7

District or Circuit judges.

Question 8

When can a jury sit with the judge and how many sit? (In the CCs)

Answer 8

If it is a case of defamation, torts of malicious prosecution (false claims) or false imprisonment. 8 jurors will sit.

Question 9

What are the 3 divisions of the high court?

Answer 9

Queens bench division
Chancery division
Family division

Question 10

What types of cases do the queens bench division deal with?

Answer 10

Contract and tort cases over £100,000

Question 11

Who sits in the queens bench division?

Answer 11

A judge presides and occasionally a jury of 12 in cases of fraud, libel, slander, malicious prosecution or false imprisonment.

Question 12

what does the Chancery division deal with?

Answer 12

Insolvency cases, mortgages, copyright and intellectual property rights, disputes relating to business, property or land, disputes over trust, professional negligence, etc.

Question 13

what is there in the chancery division and what do they deal with?

Answer 13

a special companies court that deals with winding up companies

Question 14

how many judges sit in the chancery division?

Answer 14

1

Question 15

what does the family division deal with?

Answer 15

family cases, where there might be disputes about which country’s law apply or family matters under the Hague convention (e.g. divorce, or issues were a child is involved) also deals with child liberty under habeas corpus

Question 16

what can the queens bench division also deal with?

Answer 16

civil appeals, and judicial review cases, can also hear appeals on points of law from criminal cases (appeals by way of case stated)

Question 17

what are the 4 individual courts within the queens bench division ?

Answer 17

• commercial court (insurance, banking and commercial matters)
• admiralty court (disputes at sea)
• technology and construction court (deals with complex building, engineering of computer litigation disputes)
• administrative court (for appeal by way of case stated)

Question 18

when can the family division restrict access to proceedings?

Answer 18

if a child’s welfare requires it, or if it is necessary to do so for the safety of the parties.

Question 19

what specific cases may the family division deal with?

Answer 19

• parental disputes over the contact and residence of children.
• local authority intervention to protect children.
• divorce.
• financial support for children after divorce.
• some domestic violence.
• adoption.
• appeals from family proceedings in CC.
• forced marriage.

Question 20

what courts does the chancery division incorporate?

Answer 20

Bankruptcy and Companies Courts, Patents Court and Intellectual property enterprise court.

Question 21

Describe pre-action protocol.

Answer 21

• letter sent to the defendant outlining the claim which the defendant then has 3 month to respond.
• If evidence is needed to be reviewed then a legal expert should be agreed upon by both parties. Agreement can sometimes be reached if not case will proceed to court.

Question 22

what claims start in the county court?

Answer 22

claims under £100,000 the exception are personal injury claims over £50,000 and defamation of character claims both of which will go to the High court.

Question 23

what are the fees for a claim?

Answer 23

varies from £35-£455. For claims over £200,000 or more, the fee is £10,000.

Question 24

what can the defendant do once receiving the claim?

Answer 24

• admit and settle.
• send an acknowledgment of service form within 14 days and his defence within an extra 14.
• Ignore. Called a default basically forfeiting the case.

once the claim is defended the court allocated the case to the relevant track.

Question 25

who makes the decision on which track?

Answer 25

District judge or the ‘Master’.

Question 26

what is the small claims track?

Answer 26

heard in the cc, disputes under £10,000 except for personal injury and housing cases where the limit is £1,000.

Question 27

what is the fast track?

Answer 27

heard in cc, disputes between £10,000 and £25,000. hearing limited to just one day and only 1 expert witness is usually allowed.

Question 28

what is the multi-track?

Answer 28

heard in cc and for cases over £25,000 or more complex cases. Judge can also decide whether to transfer the case to the HC. Hearings can take longer than one day.

Question 29

what are the advantages of small claims?

Answer 29

• Low cost
• don’t have to pay other parties costs if you lose
• can take the case yourself (often advised)
• procedure is quicker
• district judge helps parties explain their cases

Question 30

what are the disadvantages of small claims?

Answer 30

• no legal aid
• if other side is business they will often have a lawyer
• 60% of claimants receive all the money awarded

Question 31

what will the district judge do to determine whether a case can be fast tracked?

Answer 31

send out the allocation questionnaire.

Question 32

what are the Woolf Reforms?

Answer 32

Recommendations by Lord Woolf of the administration of justice in his report Access to Justice (1996).

Question 33

what did Lord Woolf propose?

Answer 33

• the 3 track system.
• encouraging the use of ADR.
• Giving judges more responsibility for case management.
• More use of technology.
• simplifying documents and proceedings.
• shorter timetables for cases to reach court and length of trials.

Question 34

what were the positives of the Woolf reforms?

Answer 34

• co-operation between parties and opposing lawyers improving.
• increase rate of settlement.
• judges take active role in managing cases.
• less delay.

Question 35

what were the negatives of the Woolf reforms?

Answer 35

• Costs of cases keep increasing and costs in fast track cases are far greater than amount claimed.
• Courts still under resourced especially when it comes to technology.
• ADR could be used more often.

Question 36

what reforms did Lord Briggs make?

Answer 36

• set up out of hours mediation service in county court.

- setting up an online court.

Question 37

describe appeals from the CC.

Answer 37

if case was heard by a district judge then the appeal is heard by a circuit judge in the same court. if it was heard by a circuit judge it will go to the HC.

Question 38

describe appeals from the HC.

Answer 38

Usually go straight to court of appeal as long as they have leave to appeal from the court of appeal. second appeal can go to supreme court if leave to appeal granted. sometimes case can leapfrog from HC to supreme court if case of public/national importance.

Question 39

What are the benefits for using the Civil courts?

Answer 39

• matter will be presided over by a qualified judge.
• they are legally binding so an enforceable decision will be guaranteed.
• open system of justice (unlike ADR).
• matter will be allocated to the appropriate track and the whole process is very organised so both party will be able to prepare and will be aware of everything.
• use of precedent.
• clear, structured appeals route.
• legal funding is possible (Legal aid).
• process is fair and everyone is treated alike (judge is impartial).

Question 40

What are the disadvantages of using the civil courts?

Answer 40

• Costs (cost of taking case to court often more than the amount claimed).
• Delay (many pre-trial stages to go through, and case takes a lot of time to be heard in court)
• Complicated process (for some cases parties must use pre-action protocols and forms and procedures can be complicated for the ordinary person, making it hard unless they have legal help).
• Uncertainty (don’t know if you are even going to win, may have to pay other sides costs).