Civil Courts, Dispute Resolution + Appeal System Flashcards
State + explain the 2 courts in which Civil Cases are tried.
County Court:
* Heard + decided by a Circuit/District Judge (lowest level of judges)
* For defamation cases + false imprisonment, can be a trial with a judge + jury of 8.
* Used for lower value cases that don’t involve important points of law.
High Court:
Power to hear any civil case + has 3 divisions:
* Family: disputes about which country’s laws should apply + international cases concerning family matters. Heard by 1 judge + juries never used. Crime + Courts Act 2013: created new separate family court- many cases now go here instead of family division.
* King’s Bench: biggest division, deals with contract + tort cases where amount claimed is £100,000+, can also hear smaller amounts if it’s an important point of law. Heard by one judge, but there can be a right to a jury.
* Chancery: involves disputes with matters including: business, copyright + patents, international+ domestic trade. Heard by 1 judge + juries are never used.
Explain how a Civil Court Case Is Started.
Pre-Action Protocols:
* First try + negotiate an agreed settlement (ADR: Alternative Dispute Resolution). Vast majority of cases settled + don’t go to court.
Which Court To Use:
* If liability is denied (no one accepts their wrong), or ADR refused, then court case is started.
* Court used based on amounts claimed, type of case, + if there are any complex points of law.
Issuing A Claim:
* To start a claim, need to complete an ‘N1’ form- collect for any civil court office, or can print online.
* Hand in form to either County or High Court- fee charged for issuing the claim- fee dependent on amount of claim.
State + explain the routes D can take when Defending A Claim.
1) Admits claim- pays full amount claimed for- case closed
2) Ignores claim (doesn’t respond to court within 14 days)- claimant can ask for an order to be made for all the money + costs claimed from D.
3) Disputes claim (believes they aren’t wrong)- must send court an ‘N9’ form within 13 days.
State + explain the 4 Tracks When Disputing A Claim.
Civil Procedure (Amendments No.2) Rules 2023: introduced tracks.
* Decision to which track a case should go made by District Judge in CC, or Master in HC.
* Small Track: up to £10,000 (£1,000 personal injury), county court, District Judge, both parties encourage to represent themselves. Winner can’t claim any legal fees back.
* Fast Track: £10,000 - £25,000. County Court, Circuit Judge, hearing should be heard within 30 weeks, more likely to between 52 weeks.
* Intermediate Track: £25,000 - £100,000. County Count, Circuit Judge, only for money claims- not injunctions or specific performance.
* Multi Track: over £25,000, or complex cases (if over £100,000 heard in High Court), High Court, HC judge, identify any issues early on, fixed timetables for actions to be completed.
Explain the Reform of Civil Courts.
- Current system of civil justice started in 1999, based on recommendations made by Lord Woolf: said civil justice system should be understandable to those who use it + fair in the way it treats litigants.
- Reforms brought 3-track management system + gave judges for responsibility for managing cases.
- Simplified documents + encouraged use of IT + ADR.
- Agreed Lord Woolf’s reforms: changed civil litigation for the better + far more cases now settle + don’t go to court.
- However, agreed there’s still problems with civil justice system: ADR isn’t used enough + costs of cases have continued to rise, in particular fast-track cases often more than amount claimed.
- Review by Lord Briggs in 2016 suggested several changes to the system: should be an out-of-hours priv mediation services (in County Court)- ADR, + there should be an online court set up.
State + explain the Civil Appeal System.
Appeal Could Be On Basis Of 3 Things:
* Point of law is wrong/applied incorrectly
* Being found liable
* Not happy with damages/remedies awarded
Appeals From County Court:
Appeal route depends on level of judge hearing case.
* Case heard by District Judge, then appeal to Circuit Judge in same County Court.
* Case heard by Circuit Judge, appeal to High Court Judge.
Can be second appeals- appeal always to Court of Appeal
Further appeals in exceptional cases to Supreme Court.
Appeals From High Court:
* Decision in High Court, appeal usually goes to Court of Appeal.
* In rare cases, may be a ‘leap-frog’ appeal direct to Supreme Court- since 2015 appeal must: involve an issue of national importance, raise issues of sufficient importance to warrant leap-frog.
* Supreme Court must give permission to appeal.
State + explain the Advantages of the Civil Court System.
- Fair: everyone’s treated alike- judge is impartial. (e.g. D has a chance to defend themselves with a N9 form).
- Legal Expert: trials conducted by a legal expert- a judge. More experienced judge depending on the level of the claim (e.g. in small-track: district judge, in multi-track: high-court judge)
State + explain the Disadvantages of the Civil Court System.
- Cost: costs to take a case to court often more than amount claimed, High Court can be hundreds of thousands. Also have to pay a fee to start case with a N1 form.
- Delay: many preliminary stages to add to length of case. Up to a year wait for case to be heard- can take years. (e.g. fast-track, idea for case heard within 30 weeks, but well over a year.
State + explain Tribunals as another form of Dispute Resolution.
- Used instead of going to court + are far less formal (still legally binding)
- Role is to enforce rights which have been granted through social + welfare legislation (e.g. mobility/disability allowance)
NOT for issues of civil/criminal law -
Tribunals, Courts + Enforcement Act 2007: created structure for tribunals; First-Tier + Upper Tribunals.
First-Tier Tribunals: - Deal with all cases at first instance, operates in 7 chambers
Include: health, education + social care chamber, + Social entitlement chamber
Upper Tribunal: - Divided into 4 chambers + hear cases from specific chambers from the first tier (e.g. Tax + Chancery Chamber)
- Further possible appeal to Court of Appeal + a final route to Supreme Court (very rare)
State + explain the Advantages of Tribunals.
- Cheapness: people represent themselves- don’t need a legal team.
- Informality: as it’s more informal, people are more likely to use it.
State + explain the Disadvantages of Tribunals.
- More formal than ADR: people may feel intimidated
- Delay: 600,000 case hearings per year, slow process
Explain Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) as another form of Dispute Resolution.
- Trying to resolve dispute without having to go through court process.
- May not want to go to court because of time + money
Negotiation: - Not legally binding
- Done directly with other party- private, quick + cheapest method of settling a dispute.
- Can ask solicitors to negotiate on your behalf + reach a settlement.
Mediation: - Neutral mediator helps parties reach a compromise solution to the dispute.
- Mediator consults with each party + sees how much common ground there is.
- Mediator won’t usually tell parties his own views.
- When may it be used: only suitable if there’s some hope for cooperation, important in family cases.
State + explain the Advantages of Mediation (ADR).
- Not a legal decision- more common sense
- NO winner or loser- everyone’s a winner
State + explain the Disadvantage of Mediation (ADR).
- No guarantee of any resolution- may have to go to courts after all- meaning longer delays + costs.
Compare Courts + ADR.
- ADR is much cheaper.
- In ADR parties are in control + can be stopped at any time
- In ADR must businesses will continue to work together as no losers + have reached an agreement.
