Media Law: 4 Civil courts & procedure Flashcards
types of civil case in which jury CAN be used
[4]
- defamation
- malicious prosecution
- fraud
- false imprisonment
admin HQ of High Court
[1]
- Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand
divisions of High Court (and what they do)
[3]
- Family Division - marriages, children, families
- Chancery Division - money and property (business disputes, bankruptcy, tax cases)
- Queen’s Bench - biggest (specialist commercial/shipping, breach of contract, tort)
DEF: tort
[3]
- civil version of a crime
- against individual rather than society/state
- can sue wrongdoer for compensation
financial minimum for tort / contract case in High Court
[2]
- £15,000
- £50,000 for personal injury claims
DEF: branch of Queen’s Bench in which public law is heard
[1]
- Administrative Division
cases heard in county court
[4]
- debt repayments
- housing disputes
- some family cases
- tort / contract NOT heard in High Court
number of county courts
[1]
- approx. 300
number of county courts designated ‘divorce courts’
[1]
- approx. 170
standard of proof in civil cases
[3]
- lower than in criminal
- ‘on a balance of probabilities’
- basically means over 50% chance they did it
settlements
[4]
- happen between parties before court starts
- legally binding between parties, but NOT same as court decision
- settlements do NOT set precedents for future cases
- no one has “won”, so don’t use the word!
costs
[1]
- judge decides who pays (usually loser pays the winner’s costs)
recent developments avoiding paying costs
[6]
- conditional fee agreements
- ‘no win, no fee’
- since 1990s
- client pays no costs if loses
- lawyer paid percentage over normal fee if they win
- solicitor organises insurance to cover costs
rules on processing civil litigation
[2]
- Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (CPR)
- courts have responsibility to ensure each party treated fairly but resources also allocated sensibly
making a claim
[3]
- claimant fills in claim form outlining claim and remedy they want
- court sends to defendant, who has 14 days to reply with their defence
- if not enough time then they can send an ‘acknowledgement of service’ (extension to 28 days)
if defendant doesn’t bother to fight
[3]
- judgement made ‘in default’
- in claimant’s favour
- still needs hearing to discuss damages
‘tracks’ of civil litigation
[3]
- small claims track
- fast track
- multi-track
small claims
[3]
- county court
- under £5,000
- faster, simplified procedure in which claimants can represent themselves