Civil courts

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  • Created by: emakey
  • Created on: 24-08-20 14:29
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  • Civil courts
    • Civil courts
      • County court
        • - About 200 CC in England and Wales, most towns have one
        • Hears nearly all civil cases   - cases up to £100,000 (PI up to £50,000)
        • Cases heard by circuit or district judge
      • High court
        • - Based in London but has judges sitting in other district registries
        • 3 divisions
          • Queens bench division (holds administr. court)
            • Hears cases with claims of over £100,000 and cases with an important point of law
          • Family division
            • There is now a family court, so FR deals with international family law
          • Chancery division
            • Hears case about property, mortgages etc
        • Has jurisdiction to hear all cases
    • Pre-trial procedures
      • Pre-action protocol  -       A list of things to be done by the parties before issuing a claim e.g exchanging info
      • WHICH COURT?    The amount being claimed will determine which court case will be tried in.
        • Claiming up to £100,000 - case must start in County Court
        • Claim for over £100,000 (over £50,000 for PI) claimant can chose to start in CC OR HC
      • Issuing a claim
        • Must fill out an N1 form and will be charged for issuing.
          • 2017 - fee was £10k for £200k claim (expensive)
      • Defending a claim
        • D receives claim. Either pays claim and cases ends or can dispute claim with N9 form within 14 days of receiving.
          • If D does not respond, C can ask for court to make order that D pays the money claimed
    • The three tracks
      • Small claims
        • Disputes under £10k (under 1k for PI)                 Proposals to increase this limit to 5k
        • Cases usually heard in private and by district judge.
        • Party encouraged to represent themselves. District judge takes active part in proceedings, asking questions etc
      • Fast track cases
        • For straight forward disputes of 10k-25k
        • Circuit judge hears case in open court lasting maximum of 1 day. - more involved than DJ in SC. e.g sets out strict timetable to prevent time wasting and running up unnecessarily costs
        • Aim to have case heard within 30 weeks but in practice more likely to be nearer to 50 weeks (slow)
      • Multi-track cases
        • Disputes over £25k or for complex cases under
        • Judge expected to 'manage' case from start of allocation in aim to keep costs and wait to hear case as small as possible
    • Reform of the civil courts
      • Lord Woolf's reforms
        • LW said the system should be: JUST, FAIR, CLEAR, reasonably QUICK and AFFORDABLE.           When reviewing, found virtually none of these were achieved
          • His reforms...  - Brought in the 3 track system           -Gave judges more responsibility for case management    - Led to simplification of documents                        LW also wanted more use of ADR and technology
            • The effect of the Woolf reforms:
      • Further reforms
        • However since LW's reforms, there are still problems with CJS e.g ADR still not used enough, costs of cases continuing to rise and IT systems very under-resourced
    • Evaluation of using the civil courts (Adv and Disadv)
    • Appeal routes in civil cases
      • Appeals from the CC
      • Appeals from the HC
  • All divisions normally hear cases by 1 judge and no jury
  • A court case will be started if ADR is unsuccessful or refused.
  • Judge can allocate case to track of higher value if complex point of law involved
  • These are the basis of the present civil justice system in which were largely presented by the Civil Procedures Rules 19999
  • More co-operation between parties, clearer for everyday person, less delay (however not as reduced as hoped)
  • The latest review was by Lord Briggs in 2016.             One of his proposals to improve the CJS was the creation of an online court.           He believes there is a "clear and pressing need" for one to reduce lawyer costs.
  • Leapfrog appeal - case must involve an issue of national importance
  • >
  • (Brought in as part of Lord Woolf's reforms)
  • If a case involves matter of European law, may be referred to the European Court of Justice
  • (See paper notes)

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