Civil courts and appeals

Question 1

County

Answer 1

Civil up to 100k
Contract, tort, recovery of land, partnerships, trusts, inheritance
Negligence, nuisance, trespass, housing, bankruptcy, debt, consumer issues
Small claims track, fast and multi track
Over 200 district county courts
Single judge (circuit) in public
District if case straight forward
Judge reads papers
Judge decides: liability, compensagion, costs, other remedies
Small claims less than 10k, informal

Question 2

High

Answer 2

Single high court judge, public
ROyal courts of justice in london
Judges assigned to one division
Judges reads papers, listens to evidence
Judge makes decision
Three divisions - KBD, Chancery, Family

Question 3

KBD

Answer 3

Largest division
Mainly contract and tort over 100k or complicated
Personal injury, negligence, breach of contract, defamation, debt
Has specialist courts
Administrative court judicial review and case stated
Circuit commercial courts, admiralty court, technology & construction court

Question 4

Chancery division

Answer 4

Business and property/land related disputes over 100k
Competition laws, intellectual property, insolvency, probate
Specialty courts include insolvency and companies list

Question 4

Family division

Answer 4

private
welfare of children under children act 1989
Appeals from family proceedings court in magistrates
Court of protection work under family law act 1996
Child abduction and custody act 1985 cases
Cases with foreign element (international abduction, forced marriage, FGM)

Question 5

Pre trial civil

Answer 5

ADR and out of court settlement first
Pre-action protocol to show attempts for this made
Claimant completes money claim online form on HM Courts and tribunals service
or complete N1 claim form
Court fees then set
D can either accept claim and pay amount, dispute claim, file acknowledgment of service to confirm but need more time
Allocoted to track using allocation questionaire

Question 6

Small claims

Answer 6

Under 10k (or under 1k for personal injury or landlord/tenant cases)
In county by district
Strict time limits (30 minutes/ 2-3 hours); limited number of witnesses
No legal representation

Question 7

Fast track

Answer 7

10k - 25k (or over 1k for personal injury /landlord tenant cases)
County by district or ciruit judge; lawyers allowed
Time limit of one day per case
Heard within 30 weeks of allocation

Question 8

Multi track

Answer 8

over 25k or complex
County with circuit OR high with high judge if complex or over 50k, or area with specialist judge in high
Judge actively manages case

Question 9

Appeals

Answer 9

WIthin 21 days
Legal arguements
No automatic right to appeal, permission must be given

Question 10

Appeal based on

Answer 10

Error of law (interpret incorrectly)
Error of fact (judge misunderstood facts, or parties not submit correctly)
Procedural unfairness (e.g. not enough time, judge bias)

Question 11

Small claim + county + district

Answer 11

county + circuit

Question 12

Fast + country + district

Answer 12

County + circuit

Question 13

Fast + county + circuit

Answer 13

High + high

Question 14

Multi + high or county + high or circuit

Answer 14

CoA with lord/lady justice of appeal
Appeals can confirm, revoke or vary original decision

Question 15

Second

Answer 15

Access to justice act 1999 s.55 allows appeal to CoA
Only permission if: case raises important point of law, OR CoA feels another compelling reason

Question 16

Supreme court

Answer 16

Final appeal to supreme in exceptional circumstances
Must be public / national importance and supreme permission
Leapfrog possible IF issue important enough, or CoA bound