Chapter 3

Question 1

Define civil claims

Answer 1

Claims made in the vil courts when an individual or a business believes that their rights have been infringed in some way.

Question 2

Define legal aid

Answer 2

Government help in funding a case

Question 3

What are some of the main areas of law

Answer 3

Contract law , law of tort , family law, employment law and company law

Question 4

Given an example of contact law

Answer 4

A company may be claiming that money is owed to it

Question 5

Give an example of tort (of negligence) law

Answer 5

An individual may be claiming compensation for injuries suffered in an accident, another example is when someone wants a bit of land to not be built on

Question 6

What are the two courts in which civil cases are dealt with:

Answer 6

The county court

The high court

Question 7

How many civil courts are under English law

Answer 7

200

Question 8

What court has nearly all of the civil cases

Answer 8

County court

Question 9

What is the county courts main areas of jurisdiction

Answer 9

All contact and tort claims
All claims that involve recovery of land
Disputes over equitable matters such as trusts up to a value of £350,000

Question 10

What two judges reside over a county court case

Answer 10

A circuit judge or district judge

Question 11

Is it possible for a County Court judge to sit with a jury

Answer 11

Yes however it is very rare and the maximum number of jury will be eight rather than a typical 12, This will only be done in tort of malice persecution or false imprisonment

Question 12

What are the three divisions and where are they based in (court)

Answer 12

Queens bench division
The Chancery division
The family division
Held in the High Court

Question 13

What were some of the successes of the Woolf reforms?

Answer 13

Cooperation between parties is improving
Increased rate of settlement in cases
Judges now taking active role in managing cases.
Less delay, although this is still a problem in the high court

Question 14

What is the Family division all about?

Answer 14

19 judges
Deals with family cases where there might be disputes about which country’s laws apply or family matters under The Hague convention
It also deals with applications for Jane as corpus where a child’s liberty is involved

Question 15

What is the Chancery division all about?

Answer 15

18 judges
Deals with insolvency cases, enforcement of mortgages, copyright and patent cases intellectual property rights.
There is a special companies court that deals with winding up companies
A single judge presides.

Question 16

What is the queens bench about?

Answer 16

Over 70 judges
Deals with contract and tort cases with claims over £100,000
A single judge presides and occasionally there can be a jury of 12 in cases of fraud, libel, slander, malicious prosecution or false imprisonment.

Question 17

What is ADR

Answer 17

Alternative dispute resolution ( deals with people resolving issues without using courts )

Question 18

Which court will be used if the amount claimed is less than £100,000

Answer 18

County court

Question 19

If a claim is for less than £10,000 it is put into what track

Answer 19

Small claims track

Question 20

What exception is there for when the claim is £50,000 or less and if it’s £1,000 it goes to where

Answer 20

For £50,000 personal injury cases will be dealt in the county court and if it’s below £1000 it is a small claim thus the small claims track

Question 21

Defending a claim

Answer 21

Did offended me and made the claim and pay the full amount. When this happens the case ends. The claimant has achieved what they wanted.

In other cases defendants may dispute the claim. If the defendant wishes to defend the claim, he must send either a knowledge meant of the service ( form N9 ) or defence to the court within 14 days of receiving the claim.

If the claimant does not do either of these things then the claimant can ask the court to make an order that the defendant pays the money and costs claim. Once the claim is defended the court will allocate the case to the most suitable track or way of dealing with the case.

Question 22

What are the three tracks

Answer 22

The small claims track, for dispute under £10,000, except for personal injury cases where the limits at the time of writing £1000
The fast track, for a straightforward dispute of £10,000-£25,000
The multitrack, four cases over £25,000 for full complex cases under this amount.

Question 23

What were some of the reforms made by lord woolf

Answer 23

Be Justin results it delivered, be fine the way it treats litigants, offer appropriate procedures at a reasonable cost
Deal with the case that reasonable speed, be understandable to those who use it.

Question 24

Appeals in the county court

Answer 24

All claims the appeals route depending on the level of judge hearing the case. This means that; if the case was heard by a district judge, the appeal is also to be a circuit judge in the same county court, if the case was heard by a circuit judge in the appeals to a High Court judge.

Question 25

Second appeals

Answer 25

Held in the court of appeals (civil division). However only in exceptional cases had further appeals as set out in the S 55 access to justice 1999 which states, no appeal may be made in the Court of Appeal unless Court of Appeal considers that, to the appeal would raise an important point of principle or practice, there’s some other compelling Reason for the Court of Appeal.

Question 26

Further appeals

Answer 26

From a decision of the court of appeals there is a further appeal to the Supreme Court but only if the Supreme Court or Court of Appeal gives permission for the appeal

Question 27

Just in case of a 12 marker what are the advantages of using the courts

Answer 27

The process is fair in that everyone is treated alike. The judge is impartial. The trial is conducted by legal expert with a decision being made by a judge whose experience and a qualified lawyer. Enforcement of the courts decision is easier as a decision made by the court can be in force through the courts. There is an appeal process with specific appeal route from decisions made in the court so if the claimant does not have a decision it is usually possible to appeal against it. It may be possible to get legal aid all the legal aid for civil cases has been considered reduced, there are still a few types of cases where is available. Legal aid is not usually available in tribunal also other methods of disputing resolutions.

Question 28

In case of a 12 marker what are the disadvantages of using courts

Answer 28

Cost, the cost of taking the case to court are often more than the amount claimed. In the High Court the cost can be hundreds of thousands of pounds, for smaller claims, the customer often more than the amount claimed. Delay, there are many preliminary stages to go through that added to the length of a case even after the cases sit down for hearing at court there is still a long wait, usually about one year for larger claims before the case is heard in court. The total all this can mean that some cases are not finished for years complicated processes the many compulsory steps to be taken before the cases started in court. For example, for some types of cases, the parties must use set pre-action protocols and give the other party certain information. When the cases started in the court the forms to be filled in and set processes to follow. These are all set up in the simple procedure Rules. All of this makes it complicated for non-a person to take a case about legal advice and help Uncertainty, there is no guarantee of winning the case. Person losing a case may have to pay the other side costs. This makes it difficult to know how much a case is going to cost in advance. Delays in cases can also add to uncertainty and cost.