Civil Courts

• Civil Courts


  Used to settle disputes between individuals and organisations
• Claimant


  Person bringing the action
• Defendant


  Person defending the action
• Standard of proof in civil cases

  On the balance of probabilities
• Burden of proof in civil cases


  On the claimant
• Remedy


  What the claimant is seeking (compensation etc.)
• Often civil cases are settled out of court
• Civil Court Hierarchy

  1. Supreme Court

  3. Court of Appeal

  4. The High Court

  • King's Bench Division
  • Chancery Division
  • Family Division

  5. County Court
• First instance civil courts


  • County Court and High Court
• Civil case tracks


  • Small claims, fast-track and multi-track. County Courts and Divisions of the High Court play roles in hearing cases allocated to these tracks.
• Small Claims Court deals with relatively straightforward cases with little value.
• Divisional Courts


  Appellate divisions of the High Court divisions, hearing appeals from the county court
• Court of Appeal (Civil Division)


  Hears appeals from the three divisions of the High Court and county courts, as well as appeals from the Tribunal Service
• Permission to appeal


  Required for appeals to the Court of Appeal, granted where the appeal has a real prospect of success or there is some other compelling reason
• Supreme Court


  Replaced the House of Lords as the top of the hierarchy of English courts, providing a second level of appeal
• Leapfrog appeal


  When an appeal goes straight from the County Court or High Court to the Supreme Court, provided all parties consent. Ther is usually a point of general public importance involved.
• Appeal from Small Claims Court to County Court


  Can be made if there is a serious irregularity in the proceedings, or the District Judge made a mistake of law
• King's Bench Division


  • Deals with 'common law' civil claims, contract and tort (civil wrongs), judicial review, and criminal appeals
• The Civil Procedure Act was passed to implement the Woolf Report


  1997
• Chancery Division


  • Deals with civil cases involving disputes relating to business, property, land, trusts, estates, validity of wills, tax etc., and has specialist departments (lists)
• The new Civil Procedure Rules came into effect

  April 1999
• Lord Woolf's goal


  • A fundamental change of culture in the civil justice system
• Family Division


  • Deals with international child abduction, issues around medical treatment of children, and hears appeals from Family Court
• Civil justice system should

  Be accessible, fair and efficient
• The Civil Procedure Rules 1998


  1. Dealing with a case justly and at proportionate cost

  2. Ensuring parties are on an equal footing

  3. Saving expense

  4. Dealing with the case in proportionate ways

  5. Ensuring it is dealt with expeditiously and fairly

  6. Allotting appropriate court resources

  7. Enforcing compliance with rules, practice directions and orders
• Woolf reforms


  • Pre-action protocols
  • Simplification of procedures
  • Judicial case management
  • Encouragement of ADR
• Simplification of procedures


  Created a 3-track system
• Simplification of language


  Plaintiff became claimant, writ became claim form, minor became child
• Simplification of forms


  N1 claim form is the standard form, accessible online and in plain English
• ADR


  1. Part 36 offer to settle

  2. Admit claim

  3. Dispute claim

  4. Do nothing
• Judicial case management


  • Judges are now "case managers" with a more hands-on approach
  • Responsible for encouraging cooperation, identifying issues early, encouraging ADR, helping parties settle, fixing timetables, using technology
• Pre-action protocols


  Recommended steps to be taken before bringing a case to court, to encourage early exchange of information and cooperation
• Personal injury pre-action protocol


  • Detailed letters of claim
  • Reply within 21 days
  • Disclosure of key documents within 3 months
  • Agreement on expert witnesses
  • Use of ADR
• Encouragement of ADR


  • Parties can postpone proceedings for 1 month to attempt settlement
  • Courts should actively promote ADR use
  • But courts cannot force parties to ADR as it may be against the right to a fair trial
• Forms of ADR


  • Mediation
  • Negotiation
  • Arbitration
  • Conciliation
• Sanctions can be issued by judges where parties do not follow timetables or delay unnecessarily</b>
• Striking out a case would only happen if it was proportionate (Biguzzi v Rank Leisure plc 1999)
• There has been a mixed response to the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, with some criticism in the 'Zander on Woolf' and 'A Few Home Truths' articles
• Tribunals


  Specialist courts for disputes in specialised areas that operate alongside the court system
• Examples of tribunals


  • Employment disputes
  • Immigration disputes (e.g. appeals against Home Office decisions)
  • Social security disputes (money given by the state for people with low or no income)