The Civil Courts

Question 1

What is a civil case?

Answer 1

• Involves disputes between private individuals or groups
• This is when someone feels that their rights have been infringed in some way

Question 2

What are the two courts a civil case can be tried in?

Answer 2

1. County Court
2. High Court

Question 3

What is a county court?

Answer 3

• The county court can try nearly all civil cases
• There are 200 county courts
• They can hear all contract and tort claims, a dispute over equitable matters upto the value of £350,000
• ## They are heard by a circuit judge or district judge

Question 4

What is a high court and what is it’s three divisions?

Answer 4

• The high court has the power to hear any civil case and has three divisions
  1. Kings Bench Division = Deals with contract and tort cases less than £100,000 where there is an important point of law. They have one judge but there is a right to a jury for cases of fraud and libel
  2. Chancery division = Deals with things related to money such as trust property and mortgages
  3. Family Division = They hear cases about family proceedings and they are held in private due to the sensitive nature

Question 5

How would a person start a legal case?

Answer 5

1. Pre-action protocol to prevent a court case
2. Court will depend on amount being claimed which determines which track it will be heard in

Question 6

What is a small claims track?

Answer 6

• Used for claims for less than £10,000
• Heard in private by a District judge

Question 7

What is an evaluation small claims track?

Answer 7

• The Judges have legal expertise
• They cannot claim for a lawyer and should take their own case

Question 8

What is a fast track?

Answer 8

• It has a monetray limit of £10,000 to £25,000
• It should be heard in 30 weeks

Question 9

What is an evaluation of a fast track?

Answer 9

• There is less wasted time due to a strict timetable
• It is more formal

Question 10

What is a multi track?

Answer 10

• This is for complex cases for cases above £25,000, they are usually heard by a circuit judge

Question 11

What is an evaluation of a multi track?

Answer 11

• It can be heard by a circuit judge
• It is slow and expensive

Question 12

What did the Lord Woolf report say?

Answer 12

• The civil justice system must be underpinned by fairness, proportionate and responsive and understandable to those who use it
• His reform was aimed at improving access to justice and modernising the rules and procedures of the civil courts. He reformed pre-action protocols, the track system, case management and ADR

Question 13

What is pre-action protocols?

Answer 13

• Where the barrister discusses the case beforehand to underline the problem

Question 14

What happens when there is an appeal from the county court?

Answer 14

• If the case is heard by a district judge, it will then go to the circuit judge in the county court and then the court of appeal
• If the case is heard by a circuit judge, it will then go to the high court and heard by a high court judge

Question 15

What happens when there is an eppeal from the high court?

Answer 15

• The appeal goes to the court of appeal or do a leap frog appeal and go directly to the supreme court

Question 16

What is an advantage and disadvantage to the form of the civil courts and appeal system?

Answer 16

• The process is fair, conducted by a legal expert, there are specific routes and it is possible to get legal aid
• It is costly to take a case to court, there can be delay due to many stages, it is a complicated process as there are many compulsory steps and there is uncertainity of winning