Law on Legal Issues

1 : Civil courts and other forms of dispute resolution

A: County Court and High Court: jurisdictions, pre-trial procedures, the three tracks

Jurisdictions

Both civil courts which deal with civil claims.

Civil claim- claims made in the civil courts when an individual or a business believes that their rights have been infringed in some way.

Main areas of civil law are contract law, law of tort, family law, employment law and company law.

Country court:

200 cc’s but gov panning on closing 50 of these. Can try nearly all civil cases main areas of jurisdiction are

All contract and tort claims

All cases for the recovery of land

Disputes over equitable matter such as trusts up £350,000

Cases are herd by a circuit judge or a district judge and on rare cases ( defamation cases or for the torts of malicious prosecution or false imprisonment) the judge can sit with a jury of eight.

High court:

Based in London but also has judges sitting in several towns and cities throughout England and wales. Jurisdiction to hear any civil cases and has three devisions which specialises in hearing certain types of cases.

Queen’s Bench Division:

Biggest of all 3 divisions

Deals with contract and tort cases where amount claimed is over £100,000 but can also hear smaller cases where there is an important point of law

Normally trie by a single judge, but there is a right to jury trial ( of 12 ) for fraud, libel, slander, malicious prosecution and false imprisonment cases.

Also an Administrative Court in QBD which supervises the lawfulness of the conduct of national and local government, of inferior courts and tribunals, and of other public bodies through judicial precedent.

Chancery Division:

Main business of this division involves dispute concerned with such matters as

Insolvency, both for companies and individuals

The enforcement of mortgages

Copyright and patents

Intellectual property matters

Consisted probate actions

Also a special Companies Court in the division which deals with mainly winding up companies.

Hear by single judge, juries are never used.

Family division:

Hears family cases which matters such as

Which country laws apply

All international cases concerning family matters under Hague Conviction

In addition can hear cases which can be dealt with by the family court

Heard by. Single judge

The Crime and Courts Act 2013 created new separate Family Court where the majority of family matters previously dealt with the FD are now dealt with by the family court.

FD only deals with these cases if the case is difficult or important.

Pre-trial procedures

Parties should first try and negotiate and agreement with he person who caused their injuries or damage to their property. Using method other than going to court is alternative dispute resolution. Most cases are settled and don’t go to court.

Pre action protocols

Parties encouraged to give information to each other to attempt to prevent going to court.

Before a claim is issued, esp in personal injury cases, pre-action ‘protocol’ (list of things to be done) has to be followed.

If parties do not follow and give required information to the other party, they may be liable for certain costs if they then make a court claim.

Which court to use

If the other persons denies liability or refuses ADR then the only way to get compensation for the injures will be to start a court case. The court used will depend on the amount that is being claimed and for personal injures and damage to property there are different limits.

Issuing a claim

When the defendant receives the claim form there are several routs which can be taken.

D may admit the claim and pay full amount and the case ends and claimant has achieved what he wanted.

Or D may dispute the claim. If he wishes to defend the claim he must either an acknowledgment of service (form N9) or a defence to the court within 14 days of receiving the claim.

D may not do either of these things and the claimant can ask the court to make and order than the defendant pays the money and costs claims.

Once defended the court will allocate the case to the most suitable ‘track’ or way of dealing with the case.

The three tracks

Decision on which tract is used is decided by the district judge in the county court or the master (a procedural judge) In the High court. To help the judge decide which track both parties are sent an allocation questionnaire.

The small claims track - for disputes under £10,000, except for personal injury of £1000.

The fast track - for straight fords disputes pf £10,000 to £25,000

The multi-track - for cases over £25,000 or for complex cases under this amount

If thought necessary by the judge where there is a complex point of law involved the case can be allocated to a track which normally deals with claims of higher value. If both parties agree the Judge can allocate a case to a lower value track.

Small claims:

Usually heard in private but can be heard in an ordinary court

Procedure allows judge to be flexible in the way the case is heard

District judges are given training in how to handle small claims cases to take an active part in the proceedings asking questions and ensuring both parties explain all of their important points

Parties are encouraged to represent themselves and cannot claim the cost of a lawyer from the other side even if they win

Fast track cases:

Court will set down a very strict timetable for the pre-trail matters with the aim to prevent one or both sides wasting time and running up unnecessary costs

Once the case is set down for hearing the aim is to have it heard in 30 week but usually 50 weeks in practice

Actual trial is heard by a circuit judge and can take place in open court with a more formal procedure than in small claims.

To speed up the trail hearing is limited to a maximum of 1 day and number of expert witness are restricted (usually 1)

Multi-track cases

Each case is heard by a circuit judge who is expected to ‘manage’ the case from the moment it is allocated to this track. This includes

Identifying the issues at an early stage

Encouraging the parties to use ADR if this is appropriate

Dealing with any procedural steps without the need for