Civil Courts & Appeals Flashcards
County Court Jurisdiction
- Negligence claims, where Individuals seeking compensation for injuries
- Landowners seeking orders that will prevent trespass
- Debt Claims & Consumer Disputes which generally involve a breach of contract
High Court Divisions
- Kings Bench Division
- Chancery Division
- Family Division
Kings Bench Division
- Work
- Tort
- Contract
- Criminal Appeals
- Judicial Reviews
Pre-action Protocols (Personal Injury)
- Rules about what parties must do even before court proceedings are issued.
Family Division
- Disputes under Hague Convention
- Adoption
- Divorce
- Wills
- Child Custody
Chancery Division
- Tax
- Property
- Wills & Probate
- Bankruptcy Cases
Pre-action Protocoals (PI) Instructions
- Claimant must send defendant a Letter of Claim which sets out why D is at fault, nature of injury etc.
- D has 3 months to investigate & admit liability or explain to C why liability is denied.
- Parties agree on expert witness if required
Issuing a Claim
- Complete N1 form only if dispute cannot be settled
- Engage in ADR
- Provide information to court
- Complete Allocation Form
Defending a Claim - List the Choice the Defendant has a choice of doing
- Admit the claim & pay full amount to claimant/court
- Admit the claim & pay in installment. If this is accepted by claimant, the case will end
- Dispute the claim & file a defence settings out why the claim could not be paid
- File an N9 confirming receipt of the claim form but asking for the time to file a defence.
Tracks Purpose
If a claim is defended, a judge must allocate it to an appropriate case management track for it to be dealt with in the most cost effective way
Small Claims Track
- Claims under £10,000 except for PI Cases under £1000
- Heard by a District Judge
- County Court
- Winning party cannot recover legal costs which tends to mean lawyers are not involved
- District judge must adopt an Inquisitorial approach
Multi Track
- Cases between £10,00 - £25,000
- PI Cases between £1,000 - £25,000
- Heard by Circuit Judge
- County Court
- 30 week timetable is set to get cases to trial
- 1 joint expert allowed
- Trial limited to 1 day
Intermediate Track
- Disputes involving values from £25,000- £100,000
- Heard by District Judge
- County Court
Multi Track
- Cases over £100,000 or complex cases over £25,000
- Claims up to £50,000 are heard in County Court
- Clims over £50,000 are heard in High Court
Appeals Route
District Judge -> Circuit Judge -> Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
Circuit Judge -> High Court -> Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
s55 Access to Justice Act 1999
- Appeals cannot go to CoA unless (a) the appeal would raise an important point of principle or practice
(b) there is some other compelling reason for the court of appeals to hear the case
Leapfrog Appeal
Case from High Court goes directly to Supreme Court under the Administration Act 1999 if Supreme court approves
