U3AOS2 The Civil Justice System Flashcards
Examples of Fairness in the Civil Justice System
Both parties should know the case against them
Fair opportunity to present case.
Entitled to examine or cross-examine witness and mae submissions to the judge,
Neither party is disadvantaged and treated fairly.
Examples of Equality in the Civil Justice System
SImilar cases has similar outcomes. in particular, awards of damages for similar injuries should have a similar output.
What are the weaknesses of CAV
Role is limited
Have no power to compel parties
No power to enforce any decisions
Not all cases are accepted
The informal nature may make parties fail to take the matter seriously
CAV isn’t appropriate for large and complex disagreements.
What are examples of access n the
Civil Justice System?
Injured have legal right to seek a remedy (financial compensation etc)
Knowing how to commence and conduct a civil proceeding.
What is the purpose of Consumer Affairs Victoria?
Advise Victoria Government on consumer legislation.
Provide consumer legal information and enforce compliance.
What types of services does CAV apply to?
Traders, landlords, and retail
Who can make a claim to CAV?
Complaints can only be made by consumers.
How much does CAV cost?
CAV is free.
What resolution method does CAV use?
They use conciliator.
What are the strengths of concilliation
Free
Informal, conducted over phone
Ensures procedure fairness
Assesses by case-by-case and lowers waste of time.
Concilliates disputes in a timely manner.
Parties reach a resolution by themself.
Define a representative proceeding
A legal proceeding in which a group of people who have a claim based on a similar or related facts bring that claim to court in the name of one person.
What are the three criteria for a class action
More than seven people claiming loss
Arising from the same or related facts
The identical legal issue to be decided.
Describe the role of the lead plantiff
Commences the proceedings and is known as the lead plantiff. The rest are known as group members.
Describe the role of the group members
The group may be described in a way that assumes everyone is part of the representative proceedings unless they opt out or in a way that requires people to opt in. if a person opts out, they are not bounded by the decision and may be able to make their own claim.
What are the types of representative proceedings
Share holder
Product liability
Natural disaster
Benefits of representstive proceedings
Group members can share the costs.
People can pursue claims that they often eise might not be able to affort.
can be paid for a litigation funder (a third-party that pays the legal costs in return for a percentage of any settlement or damages that are awarded.)
Efficient way for the court to deal with multiple
Purpose of VCAT
Provide Victorians with low cost accessible, efficient and independent tribunal delivering dispute resolution processes
VCAT is a tribunal true or false?
True
What are the resolution methods used by VCAT?
Mediation
compulsory conferences
final hearing
When is VCAT appropriate?
Whether dispute is within VCAT jurisdiction
Whether there are alternative ways to resolve dispute
Are pretrial procedures mandatory before trial?
Depends, but yes
Overview of pleadings
Series of documents exchanged between parties to a court proceedings
Who must participate in pleadings?
Both plaintiff and defendant
Pleadings are mandatory
True
Purpose of pleadings
Require parties to state main claims and defendants’ case. Aims for procedural fairness.
To state material facts. Avoids surprise.
Give the court a written record of the case
Overview of discovery
Enables parties to get copies of document that’re relevant to dispute. Listed in a formal document.
Purpose of discovery
Disclose all relevant documents to other side, ensures fairness.
Reduces surprise
Allows each party to determine strength of the other sides case.
Ensures everyone was all relevant material
Reasons of court hierarchy
Administrative convenience
specialisation
In which order does the court hierarchy go from lowest to highest
magistrates’ Court
County court
supreme court (trial division)
Supreme court (court of appeal)
Responsibility of judge in court
decide admissability of evidence (when no jury present)
observe court procedures
limitations of judge in court
potential bias
may interfere with trial which limits fairness
responsibilities of jury
decide final verdict
deliberate until verdict reached
limitations of jury
can cause delays, not legally trained
not many civil cases have jury, due to cost
responsibility of plaintiff
make opening and closing statement
present case to jury/ judge
limitations of plaintiff
costly to initiate and case
may act in contempt of court
responsibility of defendant
present case to judge and jury
limitations of defendant
may act in contempt of court
may withhold evidence
responsibility of legal practitioners
prepare evidence
provide clarity to client
limitation of legal practitioners
unrepresented parties at a disadvantage, unfair case
less experienced rep. may not present case as best as possible
judicial powers
power to order mediation
power to give directions
summary of power to order mediation
assist parties to a fast and cost-effective resolution
parties can be referred to mediation at any time before trial and in early stages of trial
this would limit amount of time the court will
