civil courts Flashcards
what are the jurisdictions of the county court
- claims under £100,000, exceptions are personal injury claims over £50,000 and defamation of character cases- both go to high court
receipt of claim and defending a claim
- once the defendant receives the claim they can either:
- admit the claim and settle
- send an acknowledgement of service form (form N9) within 14 days and his defence within an extra 14 days
- ignore- this is called a default and in this case, the claimant can ask the court to order the defendant to pay the claim and costs immediately
- once the claim is defended, the court will then allocate the case to the most appropriate ‘track’
what are the three divisions of the high court
- queen’s bench division
- chancery division
- family division
queens bench division
- over 70 judges
- deals with contract and tort cases with claims over £100,000
- single judge presides
chancery division
- 18 judges
- deals with insolvency cases, enforcement of mortgages, copyright and patent cases, intellectual property rights
- single judge presides
family division
- 19 judges
- deals with family cases where there might be disputes about which country’s laws apply or family matters under the Hague Convection
- also deals with application for habeas corpus where a child’s liberty is involved
jurisdictions
what are the pre-trial procedures
- letter sent to the defendant outlining the claim which the defendant then has 3 months to respond to
what are the three tracks
- decision on which track is made by the district judge (CC) or the ‘Master’ (HC)
- small claims track
- fast track
- multi-track
small claims track
- CC
- disputes under £10,000
- except for personal injury and housing cases where the limit is £1000
fast track
- CC
- disputes between £10,000 and £25,000
multi-track
- CC
- for cases over £25,000 or more complex cases
advantages of small claims procedures
- low cost
if you lose, you do not have to pay the other person’s lawyers’ costs - you can take the case yourself
- procedure is quicker
- the district judge helps parties explain their cases
disadvantages of small claims
- there is no ‘legal aid’
- if the other side is a business, they are more likely to use a lawyer
- only about 60% of claimants actually receive all the money awarded by the courts
when is an allocation questionnaire used?
- once a case has been defended, the district judge will send out the allocation questionnaire and then decide whether the case can be fast-tracked
what is the time aim for a case and what is the typical length of a hearing?
- 30 days
- the trial itself is a formal procedure, with the hearing limited to just one day
what cases are usually allocated to a multi track?
- when the claim is for over £25,000
- this means a circuit judge can send it to the high court
how long do multi track cases typically take?
- can take longer than a day
what are employment tribunals
appeals and appellate courts
advantages of using civil courts
disadvantages of using civil courts
what types areas of the law do civil courts deal with?
- contract cases
- tort cases
- recovery of land (evictions)
- disputes over partnerships, trusts and inheritance up to a value of £350,000
- only a small number of fast-track or multi-track cases are tried in the CC
how do employment tribunals work?
high court appeals
appeal from the court of appeal
how often do civil cases get taken to court?
fewer than 1% of civil disputes wind up in court
what judges are in civil courts
circuit judges
