Civil courts

Question 1

What is the jurisdiction of civil courts?

Answer 1

civil disputes and family matters, property, divorce, contract, tort (eg negligence)

Question 2

Civil claims

Answer 2

claims made in civil courts when an individual organisation or a business believes their rights have been infringed in some way

Question 3

Main areas of civil law

Answer 3

• contract law (company may claim money that’s owed to them)
• law of tort (tort of negligence- individual claiming compensation for injuries in an accident for example. Other types of tort- claim might not be for money but for another remedy eg. injunction)
• family law
• company law
• employment law

Question 4

structure of the civil court system

Answer 4

Supreme Court
↓
Court of Appeal - civil division
↓
High Court - family, chancery and Queens Bench division
↓
County Court
↓
Magistrates Court

Question 5

Describe Magistrates Court

Answer 5

• deals with 97% criminal cases
• some civil jurisdiction (family matters- not divorce- unpaid council tax/water/gas/electricity, local authority appeals on licences for gambling and alcohol sales)
• Heard by Magistrates or District Judges

Question 6

Who’s behind the bench at the magistrates?

Answer 6

3 lay people (not legal people) OR 1 district judge

Question 7

Describe County Court

Answer 7

• 200 in England and Wales (Gov wants to close 50)
• they try nearly all civil cases and are the lowest civil court
• Court of first instance (first place a case is heard)
• Judged by a district or circuit judge

Question 8

County Court jurisdiction

Answer 8

• all contact and tort claims
• all cases for recovery of land
• disputes over equitable matters (eg trusts up to £350,000)

Question 9

Describe High Court

Answer 9

• based in London but there are judges in towns and cities across England and Wales
• Jurisdiction: Hear any civil claims
• 120 High Court Judges (usually alone) most judges sit in the Royal Courts of Justice but also sit in 20 towns and cities across the UK
• Court of first instance and appeal court

Question 10

Describe High Court: King’s Bench Division

Answer 10

• Biggest division
• contract and tort cases over £100,000 and important points of law
• Normally 1 judge but can have a jury for fraud, libel and slander cases
• Administrative court: supervises the lawfulness of he conduct of national and of other public bodies through judicial review

Question 11

Describe High Court: Chancery Division

Answer 11

• Jurisdiction: mortgage enforcement, intellectual property matters and copyrights and patents
• Special companies court - deals with winding up companies
• 1 judge and juries are NEVER used

Question 12

Describe High Court: Family Division

Answer 12

• Family cases where a dispute about which country’s laws should apply and all international cases concerning family matters under the Hague Convention
• 1 judge
• The Crime and Courts Act 2013: created new separate Family Court which now hears majority of family matters.
  Family Division now only hears difficult/important cases

Question 13

Pre-trial procedures

Answer 13

First try to negotiate an agreed settlement using Alternative Dispute Resolution for most cases

Question 14

Issuing a claim: County Court

Answer 14

1. Prepare Your Claim: Gather evidence, calculate the amount, and fill out Form N1.
2. Submit and Pay Fee.
3. Serve the Claim: The court serves the claim; the defendant has 14-28 days to respond.
4. Await Response:

Pays: Case closed.

Disputes: Court may schedule a hearing.

No Response: Request default judgment.

5. Enforce Judgment (if needed): If unpaid, consider enforcement options like bailiffs.

Question 15

Three tracks allocation: What happens when the claim IS personal injury?

Answer 15

• less than £1,000 → small claim in the county court
• £1,000 - £25,000 → fast track claim in the county court
• £25,000 - £50,000 → multi track claim in the county court
• £50,000+ → multi track claim in the high court

Question 16

Three tracks allocation: What happens when the claim ISN’T personal injury?

Answer 16

• less than £10,000 → small claim in the county court
• £10,000 - £25,000 → fast track claim in the county court
• £25,000 - £100,000 → multi track claim in the county court
• £100,000+ → multi track claim in the high court

Question 17

Small claims

Answer 17

• parties are encouraged to represent themselves
• can’t claim lawyers fees from the other side
• usually heard in private in a small claims court but they can be heard in an ordinary court

Question 18

Fast track claims

Answer 18

• to speed up the actual trial, the hearing will be limited to a maximum of one day and only one expert witness is allowed
• actual trial is usually heard by a circuit judge and takes place in open court with a more formal procedure than a small claim. By having it heard in an open court, the media can be present and raise awareness if a case is unfairly rule
• once a case is set for hearing the aim is to have the case heard within 30 weeks but is really closer to 50 weeks

Question 19

Multi track claims

Answer 19

• case management is aimed at keeping the costs of the cases low as possible and ensuring its heard relatively fast
• heard by a judge who will be expected to manage the case from its allocation to the multi-track route.
• Managing the case includes: identifying issues quickly, encoring the use of ADR if appropriate, dealing with procedural steps without parties needing to attend court and fixing a timetable that outlines the different stages of the case that must be completed

Question 20

Appeals from the County Court

Answer 20

Appel route depends on the judge
- if it was first heard by a district judge - appeal to Circuit Judge in the SAME county court
- if it was first heard by a circuit judge - appeal to high court
You can only appeal a case once under the Access to Justice Act 1999, if its appealed twice, go to Court of Appeals Civil Division but further appeals are only allowed in exceptional cases which are set out in s 55 of the Access to Justice Act 1999:
(1) the appeal would raise an important point of principle or practice, or
(2) there is some other compelling reason for the Court of Appeal to hear it

Question 21

Appeals from the High Court

Answer 21

A decision in the High Court leads to an appeal in the Court of Appeals Civil Division
In rare cases a case can ‘leap frog’ directly to the Supreme Court
- as of 2015, such an appeal must involve an issue which is of national importance or raise issues of sufficient importance
- from a decision of the court of appeal there is a father appeal to the Supreme Court but only in the Supreme Court or from the Court of Appeal gives permission to appeal

Question 22

What are the advantages of the civil courts?

Answer 22

• Process is fair in that everyone is treated alike
• Trial is conducted by a legal expert with the decision being made by a Judge who’s an experienced and qualified lawyer
• The court is understandable - T and V v UK

Question 23

What are the disadvantages of the civil courts?

Answer 23

• No guarantee that you’ll win. Person losing a case may have to pay the other sides costs
• There may be compulsory steps to be taken before a case is started in court. Eg. for some types of case, the parties must use set pre-action protocols and give the other party certain information.
• very complicated for an ordinary person to take a case without legal advice and help
• There are many preliminary stages to go through that add the length of a case. Even after the case is set down for hearing at court there is still a long wait. All of this can mean cases aren’t finished for years
• Costs of taking a case to court are often more than the amount being claimed.