Disputes/Making Claims Flashcards
Claimant
person taking case to court
Injunction
order for a party to stop doing something
Defendant
person case is taken against
Outcome of case in civil case (verdict)
liable or not liable
Verdict in criminal case
guilty or not guillty
Civil trial
- led by judge/magistrate
- no jury
Criminal trial
- led by judge
- verdict decided by jury
civil courts
county court - lowest court in civil system
magistrates court - lowest in civil/criminal
- contract/tort cases
- disputes up to a value of £350,000
Circuit judge
lowest level of judge
The King’s Bench
- over 70 judges
- deals with tort cases with claims over £100,000
- can be a jury of 12 cases of fraud, slander
- Magistrates courts (appeal by way of case stated)
Chancery Division
- single judge presides
- deals with insolvency cases, enforcement of mortgages, copyright and patent cases
Family’s Division
- deals with family cases, family matters under Hague’s Convention
- also deals with habeas corpus
Habeas Corpus
where a child’s liberty is involved
Pre trial procedures
protocol must be followed:
- letter sent to the defendant outlining the claim, defendant then
has 3 months to respond to.
- if evidence needed, one legal expert should be agreed upon by both parties to look at the evidence.
County Court
• For claims under £100,000, the case will start in (CC).
High Court
• The exceptions are personal injury claims over £50,000 and defamation cases, both of which go to (HC).
• in the HC you are making your claim, you can either file it in one of 20 District Registries, or at the HC directly in London.
Claims process
• Once the defendant receives the claim, he can either:
- Admit the claim and settle.
- Send acknowledgment of service form (Form N9) within 14 days and his defence within an extra 14 days.
- Ignore. called a default and claimant can ask the court to order the defendant to pay claim and costs
- Once claim is defended, court will then allocate the case to the most appropriate ‘track’.
Track decision
• Decision on which track is made by District Judge (CC) or the ‘Master’ (HC).
Small claims track
CC, disputes under £10,000, except for personal injury and housing cases where the limit is £1,000.
- quick procedure
- low cost
- no legal aid
- cases heard in public or private
Fast track
CC, disputes between £10,000 and £25,000.
- aim to hear case within 30 weeks
Multi track
CC. For cases over £25,000, or more complex cases. Both parties will be sent an allocation questionnaire. If necessary, the judge can allocate a case to a track that usually deals with higher value claims, or if both parties agree, to a lower value track. The judge can also decide to transfer the case to the HC or vice versa.
- can take longer than a day
Woolf Reforms
Woolf argued that the civil courts were not delivering justice in a fair or
accessible way. He proposed:
- Encouraging the use of alternative dispute resolution.
- Giving judges more responsibility for managing cases.
- More use of information technology.
- Simplifying documents and proceedings.
- Shorter timetables for cases to reach court for lengths of trials.
