#Exam 1-Legal System- Civil Courts

Question 1

What is civil law ?

Answer 1

Civil law are claims made in civil courts when an individual believes their rights have been infringed upon in some way

Question 2

What are the two courts which deal with civil cases ?

Answer 2

The county court

The high court

Question 3

How many county courts are there ?

Answer 3

There are 200 courts, however the government is planning to close 50

Question 4

What does the county court do ?

Answer 4

The county court can try nearly all civil cases:
All contract and tort claims
All cases for the recovery of land
Disputes over matters such as trusts up to £350,000

Question 5

What type of judge will overhear the county court ?

Answer 5

They are overheard by circuit judges or a district judges, judges will ask a jury of 8 to sit for cases such as false imprisonment

Question 6

What is the high court ?

Answer 6

A court which has the power to hear any type of case and can specialise in certain cases

Question 7

Where is the high court based ?

Answer 7

The High court is based in London but has judges sitting in several towns and cities in England and Wales

Question 8

What are the three divisions of the Hugh court ?

Answer 8

Queens bench division
Chancery division
Family division

Question 9

What does the Queens Bench division do ?

Answer 9

It deals with contract and tort cases when amount claimed is over £100,000 or involves point of law

Question 10

Who oversees Queens Bench cases ?

Answer 10

They are normally tried by a single judge but there is a right to a jury for cases such as fraud and false imprisonment cases

Question 11

What does the administrative court in the Queens Bench division do ?

Answer 11

They supervise the lawfulness and conduct or the national and local government of inferior governments

Question 12

What does the chancery division do ?

Answer 12

The main business of the division is: 
Solve issues such as insolvency
Enforcing mortgages
Disputes relating to trust or property
Copyright

Question 13

Do juries ever overhear chancery division cases ?

Answer 13

No they will only ever be heard by a single judge

Question 14

What is the family division?

Answer 14

The division which overlooks family matters and a country’s point of law

Question 15

How many judges are likely to overhear cases within the High court division

Answer 15

1

Question 16

What did the crimes and courts act 2013 enforce

Answer 16

It created a new separate family court

Question 17

What is the first part of pre-trail procedures ?

Answer 17

Usually trying to solve an issue outside of court through ADR ( see ADR deck )

Question 18

What are the Pre-action protocols?

Answer 18

Parties encouraged to give information to each other before a claim is issued

Question 19

Why are there pre-action protocols

Answer 19

This is to stop loads of different court cases opening up

Question 20

When would the county court be used when starting to claim ?

Answer 20

Claims for £100,000 or less and £50,000 in personal injury

Question 21

When would the high court oversee a case ?

Answer 21

Claims for £100,000 or above and £50,000+ in personal injury

Question 22

Defending a claim can go which three routes:

Answer 22

Defendant receives claim and pays full amount, they receive claim and dispute it, if defendant ignores them they can be forced into paying by the court

Question 23

Who makes decision on what track should be followed ?

Answer 23

The county court district judge

Question 24

What are the three tracks

Answer 24

Small claims track- £10,000 except for personal injury where it is £1,000
Fast track- £10,000-£25,000
Multi track-£25,000+

Question 25

Different between the three track system

Answer 25

Small claims people are encourage to represent themselves and the case being heard can be flexible
Fast tracks and multi tracks have very strict timetables and will usually last longer

Question 26

Who started law reforms in 1999

Answer 26

Lord woolf

Question 27

What did lord Woolf recommend

Answer 27

Civil justice should be faster, cheaper and less complicated for those using

Question 28

What is the route of going for an appeal

Answer 28

District judge (CC)-Circuit Judge(CC)- High Court judge- Court of appeal- Supreme Court

Question 29

Advantages of using civil courts

Answer 29

Process is fair
Conducted by legal experts
Legal aid is available
Appeal process

Question 30

Disadvantages of using civil courts

Answer 30

Costs are still expensive
Complicated process still for people who aren’t legally trained
There is still high uncertainty on case outcomes