Civil procedure Flashcards
When was the civil justice system radically reformed?
1999 following the Access to Justice Report conducted by Lord Woolf
What governs civil court cases?
Civil Procedure Rules 1998
What did the Civil Procedure (amendment) Rules 2013 do?
amended Rule 1 of the Civil Procedure Rules:
contains the overriding objective which is to deal with cases justly and at a proportionate cost
How is a claim begun?
By completing a claim form
State the process of civil procedure
1) claim form
2) response to a claim form D with either
-admit
-deny
-ignore
(C has the burden of proving that what they are alleging is true on the balance of probabilities)
3) Pre-trial Procedure
(various pre-action protocols need to be followed by both parties
4) Offer to settle (Part 36 CPR)
What is track allocation?
decided by judge guided by a completed questionnaire
1) Small claim tract (CPR part 27)
2) Fast track (CPR part 28)
3) Multi-track (CPR part 29)
NOTE October 202 Intermediate track introduced
What is the small claim track?
CPR part 27
Disputes up to £10,000
though for personal injury £1000 except in certain PI situations were it is up to £5,000
tried in small claim courts (county courts)
=relatively cheap and simple
Parties are encouraged to represent themselves (Litigation in person) to keep costs down
60% of hearings take less then 30 minutes
Judges also take a more active role to help Claimants
What is the fast track?
-CPR 28
-Used for straight forward disputes of £10,000- £25,000
-Tried in the county court
The fee is 5% the claim
-Judges set down a very strict timetable for pre-trial matters to prevent time wasting and unnecessary costs
-Cases aim to be heard within 30 weeks, however December 2022 it was 75.5 weeks
-open court
-Before a Circuit Judge and is much more formal than small claims
-To spend up process the court proceedings are limited to 1 day and witnesses are restricted in number
What is multi-track?
CPR 29
Used for disputes over £25,000 in county or high court but now primarily used for disputes over £100,000 in the high court
-Court commonly schedule a case management conference at any time after allocation which requires parties and lawyers to attend to allow judges to “manage” the case
What is the intermediate track?
claims between £25,000 and £100,000 were cases can be heard within 3 days or less and are not likely to call more than 2 experts each and there are no more than 3 parties involved
What was announced in July 2022 that came into force in May 2024?
Compulsory mediation for small claims up to £10,00 as the Ministry of Justice believes that each year an extra 20,000 cases will settle out of court freeing up 7,000 judicial sitting days for more complex cases
State a brief overview over the civil procedure using the courts
1)claim form (C completes setting out the particulars of their claim and their desired remedy)
2) Pre-action protocals (Intends to encourage co-operation between the parties which could lead to settlement such as Part 36 offer or via ADR)
3)Defendant Response
4) Allocation questionaire (Helps determine the track)
5)Case management Conferences (Parties and lawyers attend to sort any preliminary issues to prevent delays with the trials)
6)Pre- trial administration (check the parties have complied with all previous court orders and ensure all sides are ready
7) Trial ( C needs to prove their case on the balance of probabilities, part 36 offer to settle is still possible after the trial has commenced)
Before the Woolf Reforms what was the Civil Procedure rules?
= 2 separate sets of civil procedure rules
County court = Green book
High Court = White Court
There were different rules for procedures and practice for a case.
e.g County court was started by a Summons whereas high court it was known as a Writ
What was the survey that took place in 1995 and what did it find?
“Seeking Civil Justice: A survey of People’s Needs and Experiences”
75% of the survey said that they had an overall dissatisfaction with the civil justice system
What was the Access to Justice Report 1996?
= Lord Woolf’s proposal to review the civil justice system
What did Lord Woolf’s state the civil justice system should be?
Be fair
Be Just
Understandable
Organised
Effective
What flaws did Lord Woolf find within the Civil justice?
-Expensive (costs often exceeding the amount in dispute)
-Delays (each case took an average of 3-5 years to reach trial)
-Complex
-Unjust
What did Lord Woolf concluded the Justice system was?
Unequal
Expensive
Slow
Uncertain
Complicated
How many recommendations did Lord Woolf make?
303
State some key recommendations of Lord Woolf
Track system = tailor made procedure that proportionately reflects the value and complexity if a claim to help ensure the overriding objective in Rule 1 CPR is met
Greater encouragement of ADR = An attempt to reduce the number of cases using the courts that do not warrant the formality nor the costs of a trial, this benefits parties by reducing delays and costs and maintains a good relationship
Increased Judicial Powers to manage cases = this allows judges to incentivise parties to keep on track which should help to reduce delays and help mitigate the inequality of bargaining power
Unify procedures for the county court and high court = makes any cases transfer easier to understand for parties
Simplify the language = makes it easier for parties to understand, particularly those who are litigants in persons
Increase use of I.T = speed up procedures and make way for online dispute resolution to be introduce, online claims can now be made up to £100,000 and fees are slightly cheaper at 4.5% meaning this is a good idea for straightforward cases
Pre-action Protocols = Help to ensure that set timetables are met and that parties are penalised for failing to meet deadlines
Offer to settle= led to higher rate of out of court settlements (up to 80%) which helps to reduce the workload and thus reduce delays
State some disadvantages currently within our legal system
-Though delays have been reduced, they have yet to reach goal of 30 weeks with figures in 2023 stating
small claims: 51 weeks
Fast and multi track:79 weeks
-Despite new case management powers, judges were slow to use them (not a fault of Lord Woolf) , it was said in UCB Halifax (SW) that judges should not adopt a lax approach and should use their powers or else they will use their effectiveness
-ADR use did not increase as much as had been hoped, though in May 2024 Compulsory Mediation was introduced in Small Claim courts
-Courts remain chronically underfunded
-Costs have increased due to pre-action protocal, as parties have to get “trial ready” much earlier
e.g Professor Zander heavily criticised this front loading of costs
What happened after the Briggs review?
- HMCTS has piloted flexible opening hours to provide greater flexibility and accessibility
State the advantages of using the civil courts
-Judge is impartial so everyone is treated alike by the system
-Legal experts are involved
-Decisions are legally enforceable
-appeal process
-Legal aid might be available
State the disadvantages of using the civil courts
-costs are high
-Many preliminary stages
-trials can be complicated
-Unconscious bias and inequality of bargaining power
What are the divisional courts of the high court?
KBD
Chancery
Family
=hears appeals from county court
Where does the Court of appeal hear appeals from?
The three divisions of the High Court, the divisional courts and the county courts
“leave” is required
Cases are usually heard by 3 judges
Where does the Supreme Court hear appeals from?
This court replaced the House of Lords as the top of the domestic hierarchy
“leave” is required
Only granted to cases involving a point of law of general public importance
Hears around 50 cases per year
Where does District Judge (small claims) appeal go to?
Circuit Judge in County court
Where does Circuit judge (fast, intermediate or multi) appeal go to?
High court in Divisional Court
What Section and act allows for an appeal to the court of appeal (Civil Division)?
S.55 Access to Justice Act 1999
a) “important point of principle or practice”
b) “Compelling reason”
Where does an appeal go if started in the high court?
Court of appeal
On rare occassions when can there be a leapfrog to the supreme court from the high court?
- involves a point fo law of general public importance concered with either the interpretation of a statute or which involves a binding precedent of the CA or SC
