civil courts

Question 1

what is a tribunal

Answer 1

they act as specialist courts for disputes in specialist areas for example immigration disputes are often disputed in a tribunal

Question 1

what are the 3 types of tribunals

Answer 1

administrative, domestic and employment

Question 2

what is an administrative tribunal

Answer 2

these deal with disputes between individuals and the state over rights contained in social welfare legislation such as social security or immigration

Question 3

what is a domestic tribunal

Answer 3

these are internal tribunals used for disputes within private bodies such as the law society or the general medical body

Question 4

what is an employment tribunal

Answer 4

these are the most common use for tribunals and deal with disputes between employees and employers over rights under employment legislation

Question 5

what happened in 1957 that was significant to tribunals

Answer 5

Franks committee - this recommended that tribunals should be an example of openness and fairness. the recommendations from this committee were implemented in the tribunals and inquires act 1958.

Question 6

what was set up in 1958 in regards to tribunals

Answer 6

the council on tribunals was set up to supervise and review tribunal procedures.

Question 7

what report was made in 2000

Answer 7

the Leggatt report by sir Andrew Leggatt

Question 8

what did 4 things did the Leggatt report recommend

Answer 8

1- a single tribunal service should be responsible for the administration of all tribunals- makes the tribunal service independent
2- tribunals should be organised into divisions grouping together similar tribunals
3- the system user should be friendly
4- should be a single route of appeal- each division has a corresponding appeal tribunal.

Question 9

what act was passed in 2007 which implemented most of Leggett’s recommendations

Answer 9

tribunals, courts and enforcement act 2007

Question 10

what did the tribunals courts and enforcement act 2007 introduce.

Answer 10

created a new structure- first tier and upper tribunals which each have chambers within. it introduced appeals to the court of appeal and tribunal judges

Question 11

what are the advantages to tribunals

Answer 11

1- speed - tribunal judges can impose a strict timetable which ensures a quick process
2- cost- tribunals encourage people to take there own cases without representation which means the costs are a lot lower
3- expertise- at least one member of the tribunal will be an expert
4- informality- there more informal that court
5- independent- the system is more independent and fair.

Question 12

what are the disadvantages to tribunals

Answer 12

1- lack of funding- funding is not always available for tribunals
2- delay- if your case is complex there would be a delay to be heard
3- intimidating- it may be intimidating for people to take a case t court without representation
4- lack of precedent- outcomes of cases can be unpredictable.

Question 13

what is the structure of the civil courts

Answer 13

supreme court
court of appeal
high court ( queens bench division, family division, chancery division)
county court (small claims division)

Question 14

what are the 3 tracks of the civil court

Answer 14

small claims track
fast track
multi track

Question 15

what cases go through the small claims track

Answer 15

cases from 1000-10000 in injury go to the small claims court

Question 16

what cases go through the fast track

Answer 16

cases between 10000- 25000 tried in the county court

Question 17

what cases go through the multi track

Answer 17

cases above 250000, tried in either the county court or high court

Question 18

what is the civil appeal process

Answer 18

either party can make an appeal, permission for the appeal would be granted when there is a realistic prospect of success or if it has a compelling reason. appeals are generally made to the next level of judge in the court hierarchy.

Question 19

what were the key issues the Woolf report highlighted about the civil procedure

Answer 19

expensive-
delays
complex
adversarial- people wanted to exploit the system
unjust

Question 20

what act put the Woolf reforms into place

Answer 20

civil procedure rules 1998

Question 21

what were the Woolf reforms

Answer 21

• simplified procedure
• changed some terminology to make it more accessible
• pre action protocols
• designed to get the party’s to cooperate and exchange information, encouraged party’s to settle the dispute out of court.
• case management- made judges the manager of cases, allowed them to enforce sanctions to improve cost and efficiency
• ADR- gave party’s the opportunity to solve disputes by alternate dispute resolution
• 3 tracks - introduced the 3 different tracks

Question 22

what is the process of the civil procedure

Answer 22

pre action protocols (adr)
claim form
defence (dispute claim form or admit claim)
allocation questionnaire (to decide what track the case goes down)
case management conference
pre trial administration ( disclosure, witnesses, experts)
trial

Question 23

what is the idea of adr with a case

Answer 23

ADR is composed of 4 methods which the parties are encouraged to carry out from the civil procedure act 1998.
- they cannot be forced to take part in ADR ( Halsey v Milton Keynes NHS trust)

Question 24

what are the 4 types of ADR

Answer 24

arbitration, mediation, conciliation, negotiation

Question 25

what is arbitration

Answer 25

• used in commercial and contract cases
• most formal method of ADR
• they use a neutral 3rd party to resolve the issue
• the 3rd party has the power to bind and the party’s have to sign a Scott v Avery clause to agree to this before hand
• contained ibn the arbitration act 1996

Question 26

what are the pros and cons of arbitration

Answer 26

pros:
- party’s can choose the arbitrator
- party’s can choose when/ where the event takes place
- rarely any publicity
- its binding
- the arbitrator is an expert
cons:
- public funding is not available so it is more expensive
-appeals are restricted
- party’s may feel that they don’t get there day in court
- if a legal point arises there is not always a legal representative at the hearing.

Question 27

what is mediation + a case

Answer 27

• commonly used in family disputes
• party are encouraged to come to there own settlement with the use of a third part who acts as a go between and is not actively trying to reach a resolution
  people can use the civil mediation online directory
• not binding
• Dunnett v Railtrack

Question 28

what are the pros and cons of mediation

Answer 28

pros:
- private and confidential
- party’s enter the process voluntarily
- quick and cost effective
- maintains relationships
- 80% of cases are solved with mediation

Question 29

what is conciliation

Answer 29

• commonly used in industrial disputes
• 3rd party platys a more active role to push the party’s towards a settlement
• carried out by ACAS ( advisory conciliation and arbitration service)

Question 30

what are the pros and cons of conciliation

Answer 30

pros:
- cheaper than litigation
- private and confidential
- ACAS adopts the prevention rather than cure approach
- conciliator plays an active role

cons:
- heavily relies on the skills of the conciliator
- may go to court if this fails anyway resulting in greater costs

Question 31

what is negotiation

Answer 31

• used most commonly at the outsets of disputes
• resolving the dispute between party’s themselves may include solicitors

Question 32

what are the pros and cons of negotiation

Answer 32

pros:
completely private
- quick resolution
- maintains relationships
- relatively informal

cons:
- solicitors can be pricy
- offers exchanged are not agreed on until the day of court wasting time