Civil Courts

Question 0

What types of judges sit in civil courts?

Answer 0

District judges, circuit judges and high court judges (order of hierarchy too)

Question 1

Give some examples of civil litigation

Answer 1

• breaches of contract
• possession proceedings
• insolvency matters

Question 2

Reporting restrictions and what rights do Journos have

Answer 2

• civil case hearings are mainly conducted by reference to documents. A Journos has rights to see the key documents of cases heard in public.
• civil courts can impose reporting restrictions. Contempt law applies to media coverage reports of their cases but is slee restrictive if no jury is involved.
• county courts deal with bankruptcy cases. Journos need to be careful when referring to someone as bankrupt as this could be defamatory if untrue.