Civil Courts

• civil claims arise when an individual or business believes that their rights have been infringed in some way.
• 2 courts in which civil cases are tried in are;

  • County Court
  • High Court
• County Court:

  around 200 county courts and can try nearly all civil cases such as all contract and tort claims.

  Heard by a Circuit or District Judge.
• High Court:

  based in London and has 3 divisions; Queen's bench division, Chancery division and the Family division.
• Queen's Bench Division:

  the biggest of 3 divisions. Deals with contract and tort claims where the amount is over £100,000.

  Normally tried by a single judge but there is sometimes a right to a jury.

  Also contain specialist courts such as Commercial court.
• Chancery Division:

  mainly resolves disputes such as;

  • mortgages
  • copyright

  heard by a single judge and never have a jury.
• Family Division:

  hears family cases where there is a dispute about which country's laws should apply.

  Heard by a single judge and juries are not used.

  Crime and Courts Act 2013 created a new separate family court meaning the family division is only used when the case is difficult or important.
• deciding which court to claim in;

  • small claims track- claim for £10,000 or less. Personal injury claim for £1,000 or less.
  • county court- claims for £100,00 or less, personal injury claim for £50,000 or less.
  • High court or County- claims over £100,000, personal injury claim over £50,000.
• to issue a claim, a claimant must have a claim form called N1 if using county court or high court.

  the claim must be filed at a court office and a fee will be charged which varies depending on the claim. top end of scale is £10,000 for claims of £200,000 or more.
• when defendant receives a claim form they can admit the claim and pay the full amount.

  OR

  dispute the claim and send a N9 form within 1r days of receiving the claim form.
• District judge chooses the track a claim should be allocated to. 3 tracks are;

  • small claims- disputes under £10,000.
  • fast track- straightforward disputes of £10,000-£25,000.
  • multi track- cases over £25,000
• small claims track cases are usually heard in private or ordinary court. District judges are given training in how to handle these as they ask questions and ensure parties explain all points.
• fast track cases are used to prevent time wasting and uneccesary costs.

  trial is headed by a circuit judge and occur in open court with a more formal procedure. Hearing is limited to one day maximum and only one expert is allowed.
• multi track cases:

  tried by a judge who is expected to manage the case. this include;

  • identifying issues
  • encouraging parties to ADR

  This it to keep the costs of the case low and ensure it is heard quickly.
• Reform of the civil courts:

  Lord Woolf stated that the justice system should be just, be fir in the way it delivers, offer appropriate procedures at a reasonable cost, deal with cases at a reasonable speed.

  He found that none of these were being met and he introduced the 3 track system and gave judges more responsibility.

  Wanted more use of ADR and information technology.
• effect of Woolf's reforms;

  been improvements in delays however still not as good as hoped.

  also has been more cases that settle without a trial.

  however;

  • ADR isnt used enough
  • costs of cases are increasing
  • courts are under resourced
• Lord Briggs in 2016 put forward several proposals including;

  • there should be out of hours private mediation service.
  • an online court should be set up.
• lord brigg's online court;

  claims up to £25,000.

  3 stages of the process to help cases be dealt with more quickly and at a lower cost.
• appeals from county court;

  • if case was a district judge it is appealed to a circuit judge in the same county court.
  • if case was heard by Circuit judge then the appeal goes to a High court judge.
• s55 of Access to Justice Act 1999 states that no appeal may be made to the court of appeal unless they consider that the appeal would raise an important principle or there is another compelling reason.
• appeal from the High Court usually go to the Court of Appeal.

  'leap frog appeal' - an issue of national importance can go straight from the high court to the supreme court.
• advantages of using the courts are;

  • fair process
  • conducted by legal expert
  • an appeal process
  • possible to get legal aid
• disadvantages of using the courts;

  • costs
  • delay
  • complicated process
  • uncertainty