Civil Litigation and the Courts

"Litigation as a last resort" is the matra underpinning the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (CPR). 

The County Court

The County Court deals with more straightforward cases including:

• claims for money only, whether it be for specific debt or for damages, where the anticpated value of the claim is for £100,000 or less;
• personal injury claims for less than £50,000.

Note that money-only claims are started under CPR 7  and must be issued centerally in the County Court Money Claims Centre. Contested claims are later transferred to a names County Court hearing centre. 

The High Court 

Only more complex cases are dealt within the High Court. The High Court is divided into three divisions:

• Queen Bench Division - which covers actions in contract and tort. 
• Chancery Division - which is used for disputes over wills, inheritance etc.
• Family Division - which is used for adoption etc.

Judicial functions in the High Court are shared between:

• Masters- who deal with interim applications and case management matters; and
• High Court judges - who deal primarily with trials, but also interim applications and case management as appropriate. 

The sources of procedural law 

Litigation is essentially divided into three stages:

• the pre-action stage;
• from issue of proceedings through to judgment…