civil courts

• the two courts for dealing with civil disputes are the county court and the high court

  most cases are tried in the county court but very expensive claims may be heard at the high court instead
• jurisdiction of the county court

  • hears almost all civil court cases
  • max claim is £100,000 but can hear more if the parties agree to a county court trial
  • trials are heard by circuit or district judges
  • hears civil cases involving tort, family cases etc
  • on rare occasions the CC may use a jury of 8 people to decide the verdict in a case
• jurisdiction of the high court

  • based in london
  • have the power to hear any civil case
  • the high court judges hear the more expensive multi track cases
  • those cases may be heard in the high court or could be allocated to the family, chancery or kings bench division
• family division

  • cases heard in private due to sensitivity
  • hears cases involving the welfare of children under the children act 1989
  • appeals from family proceedings court and complicated cases transferred from the county court
  • cases of international child abduction under the Hague Convention
• chancery division hears following cases

  • tax
  • company law
  • intellectual property matters
• kings bench division

  • headed by the lord chief justice
  • hears cases involving contract and tort over £100k
  • can hear smaller claims where there is an important point of law or it is very complex
  • a jury of 12 people may be used in false imprisonment or malicious prosecution cases
  • judicial review cases are heard in this court
• kings bench courts

  • administrative court - hears applications for judicial review
  • commercial - deals with claims relating to the transactions of trade such as banking and financial matters
• pre trial procedure

  a court claim should be a last resort if ADR doesnt work
• if the amount of the claim is less then £10k or less than £1k in a personal injury claim, then the small claims court is to be used
• if the amount of the claim is less then £100k or less then £50k in personal injury then to use the county court
• if the amount is more than £100k or more than £50k for personal injury then the court will be either county or the high court
• To issue a claim a claim form (N1) is to be filled out

  it is filled out by the claimant and includes names, addresses etc

  it can be filed online or in the high court if a high value

  the claimant will also have to pay a court fee and the amount of it will depend on how much the claim is worth e.g a small claim of £5k will have a court fee of £205
• smaller claims are posted to the defendant by the courts but larger claims are served on the defendant by a court official who will deliver it by hand
• the defendant then has 5 options

  1. settle - pay the full amount to be claimed for
  2. admit claim and pay in instalments
  3. defend - the D might file a defence within 14 days saying why the claim should not be paid
  4. counter claim - the D might make a claim against the Claimant
  5. ignore the claim - claimant can win by default if the D doesnt reply within 14 days
• both the claimant and defendant are sent an allocation questionnaire to help the court decide which track the case should be allocated to

  the judge managing the case will then allocate a suitable track
• the 3 tracks are

  small claims

  fast track

  multi track
• small claims

  • trials held in the county court as less formal
  • a district judge will hear the case with the claimant and defendant and it is not necessary to have a solicitor present
  • if you do use a solicitor then you cannot claim back your legal fees from the losing parties
  • the small claims track can hear cases up to £10k
• fast track

  • a district or circuit judge hears these cases in the county court
  • it includes cases between £10-25k
  • it is a formal trial that will be heard in a courtroom and that will NOT last more than a day
  • the trial date will be set within 30 weeks
• multi track

  • cases that are worth more than £25k and that will be allocated to either the crown or county court
  • a circuit judge will manage the allocation of an appropiate court
  • if the trial is at the county court then it will be heard by a circuit judge
  • if heard at high court then heard by a high court judge
  • judge will actively manage the case and will set a strict timetable including what must be disclosed, trial time etc
• the trial will then be heard at either high or county court depending on what track it has been allocated to

  the judge will listen to both sides and make a decision on which party is successful

  the losing party may be ordered to pay the winners legal costs as well as compensation

  if the winner has taken out legal insurance and has to pay their solicitor a success fee then this CANNOT be claimed from the losing party.