Yr13 Law-T1-W1-Fri-Unit 1 A-Civil Dispute Resolution
Yr13 Law-T1-W1-Fri-Unit 1 A-
Civil Dispute Resolution
Learning objective
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Yr13 Law-T1-W1-Fri-Unit 1 A-
Civil Dispute Resolution
Learning objective
Objective
Understand how civil disputes are solved in England and apply that knowledge to case studies and scenarios
Understand revised expectations regarding coursework
Understand how the course will be delivered over the academic year(s)
Plans & Expectations
Year 13 Plans
Terms 1 & 2 - Prepare for and sit the Unit 1 External Assessment
Terms 3, 4, 5 - Complete Unit 4 Family Law coursework and prepare for and resit Unit 3 and Unit 1 External Assessment. (4:2 split)
Coursework Expectations
Always include a title or reference to the assignment name/brief/number, introduction, main body, conclusion, and bibliography
A detailed help sheet will be provided
Features, Aims and Purposes of Civil Law
The main aim of civil law is to protect people and businesses in our society. The law sets out the rights and duties for businesses and individuals. For example, road users have a duty of care to others on the road. Where there is a road accident, a civil case might be brought by the claimant against the person alleged to have caused the accident bracket the defendant), under the area of law of tort called negligence.
Civil law usually seeks to achieve compensation for the person who has suffered loss or damage. For example, for repair of a car after a minor car accident. Alternatively, civil law can be used to stop someone doing something that affects another person‘s rights. For example, to deal with a dispute with a neighbour who regularly practices playing the drums at 3 o’clock in the morning.
Standard and burden of proof in civil cases.
In every civil case, evidence is needed that shows why the claimant should win their case. The standard of proof is the level of certainty with which the claimants case must be proved. In civil cases, the balance of probabilities is used. This is a lower standard and in criminal cases, which must be proved beyond reasonable doubt. The burden of proof sets out who has to prove their case to the required standard. In civil cases this is the claimant
Discussion
Why do you think that there are different standards of proof in civil and criminal cases?
Do you think that there should be any difference between the two standards?
Civil court hierarchy
There is a hierarchy of courts in England so that there is a clear route from the initial trial of a case to the final appeal. This is very important for the doctrine of precedent that you will study in section C for this unit.
Civil Court Structure
Features, Aims and Purposes of Civil Law
There are only two civil courts in which a case may be started:
A County Court
The High Court
Civil courts of first instance
The court that hears the initial trial of the case is either the County Court or the High Court. As these are the only courts that hear an initial trial, they are known as courts of first instance.
Whether a case begins in the County Court or High Court depends on the complexity of the case and the amount of money being claimed. For example, less complex cases and those seeking small amounts of money are heard by lower ranking judges in the County Court.
Main types of civil court actions
High Court
Claims above £100,000 or personal injuries above £50,000
County Court Multi-track
Any claim not in fast track or small claims track
County Court Fast-track
Claims up to £25,000 and personal injuries up to £50,000
County Court Small claims track
Claims up £10,000 or personal injuries up to £1000
Court information (continued)
Queens bench division -This divisions main work is hearing cases involving contract and tort cases in which the amount claimed is over £100,000, or personal injuries where the damages are likely to exceed £50,000. It also has several specialist areas of work with separate courts:
Commercial court, which deals with matters such as banking and insurance law. These cases are often dealt with by the judge considering paperwork and written submissions rather than a formal trial.
Mercantile court which deals with commercial and business disputes.
Admiralty court which deals with shipping matters, such as claims for damages caused by collisions at see. The judges are helped by shipping experts.
Technology and construction court, which deals with cases involving technical knowledge about construction, engineering or computing.
Court information (continued)
Administrative court, which reviews decisions made by people or bodies, such as local authorities and regulatory bodies. This is often dealt with through a process known as judicial review,
Chancery Division – this division deals with disputes about matters such as land, Will and insolvency. There is also a separate specialist court within the chancery division, called the companies court. It handles cases related or relating to the insolvency of companies.
Family division – this division deals with some aspects of divorce, children’s welfare and medical treatment. Most family law matters are dealt with in family law courts rather than the High Court family division.
Civil courts of appeal.
If the result of the case in the High Court or the County Court is considered incorrect by either the claimant or the defendant, there may be an appeal. The case is passed on to one of the appellate courts we can see this below.
Court information
Cases in the county court neighbourhood by a district judge or a circuit judge. District judges are full-time judges who deal with the majority of cases in the county courts. There are also deputy district judges who are appointed on a part-time basis. Circuit judges are more senior and usually have served other part-time as recorders on criminal cases or full-time as district judges and civil cases. Some judges sit part time after they have retired and are then known as deputy circuit judges..
Cases in the High Court are heard by High Court judges. The High Court is divided into three divisions for administrative purposes and to enable the High Court judges to become specialists in a particular area of law.
How to appeal
An appeal is requested by filing an appeal notice within 21 days after the date the decision of the lower court. Usually permission is required for appeals. Permission will not be given unless the appeal is likely to succeed. For almost all appeals, the appeal court will allow and appeal only where the decision of the lower court was wrong or unjust because of serious irregularities in the lower court. This restriction shows confidence in all judges, but a willingness to admit that sometimes mistakes are made. There are relatively few appeals each year, as shown in the table below.
Most civil disputes do not end up in trial in court. Many are dealt with through one of the alternative dispute resolution methods.
Where a case does go to court the aim is to make the processes simple and efficient as possible. Judges in civil cases do not have the power to prison are losing party. The usually no juries in civil trials or civil cases, with some rare exceptions. The judge hears the case alone and decides the outcome by finding facts from the evidence given, applying the relevant law to those facts and then giving a reason judgement. There may also be an argument about what the law is.
Role of judges in civil cases.
A wide range of cases can be taken to court. There might be a dispute about damage to goods or recovery of a debt or a large personal injury claim. These claims could be between individuals or involve small or large businesses.
Civil cases are heard in court, which means that the public are allowed to come to the court to listen to the hearing. There are also hearings in the judges private room from which the public are excluded. These hearings might be about when or which documents or witnesses will be needed in the trial. you will often read about court cases in newspapers or see references to them on the Internet. Such media reports of previous cases can be useful but are not guaranteed to be accurate enough for judges to use in court when looking at the cases before them. Laura reports will be looked at in more detail in section C of this Unit.
The court hearing
Before any hearing and particularly before a trial, the judge reads the relevant case papers to become familiar with the dispute. The evidence and the relevant law. The judge also has an important role in case management. This includes:
-Encouraging the parties to cooperate with each other in the conduct of the case
-Helping the parties to agree to a settlement in the case,
-Encouraging the parties to use an appropriate alternative dispute resolution procedure.
-Controlling the progress of the case.
Where there is a trial, the judge keeps control in court and make sure that witnesses can be cross examined to ensure that their evidence is as reliable as possible. This makes sure that the case is presented as fully and fairly as possible. During the case, the judge may feel that a point needs more explanation and will ask questions. The judge also decides on all matters of procedure that may rise during a hearing. Sometimes the parties will have agreed the relevant facts. If they have, it is not necessary for the judge to hear any oral evidence from the parties or witnesses. The judge will have to decide how to apply the law to the fact agreed.
The court hearing (continued)
Judgement - when the law has been applied, the judge makes a decision in the form of a judgement. The judgement sets out a reasoned argument based on the relevant law. Judgement presented in writing so that a decision is available to the parties and to other interested persons. This is very important, as these decisions form the basis of much of the law by setting judicial precedent. Judicial precedent is considered in detail in section of this unit.
The part of the decision that the parties are particularly interested in is the order made at the end of the judgement. This is often a statement of the sum of money to be paid by one party to another. He could also be in order about arrangements for visits to see children by one party in a divorce or an order to prevent activities taking place through an injunction. For example building something that would breach some planning laws. The task of the judge is to try to decide on the appropriate outcome, and to agree the precise terms and wording of any order made.
Costs
After the judgement has been made and any order agreed, the judge must deal with the matter of costs. These may amount to a large sum of money. The judges role is to ensure that the amount claimed for costs is fair. Costs are likely to include the fees of any lawyers, court fees paid out by the parties, fees for expert witnesses, earnings lost And travelling and other expenses incurred by the parties and their witnesses.
While the general rule is that the unsuccessful part will have to pay the successful parties costs. The judge may decide, for example, that the unsuccessful party should pay only a proportion of the successful parties costs, or that each party should pay their own costs,.
The trial process can be quite worrying for the people involved, as a court is not a place with which many people are familiar. Help with this and to keep costs, there is a small claims track in the county court which is less formal, quicker and cheaper than a full trial.
The small claims track is for cases involving less than £10,000, or where personal injuries are involved, the likely award of damages is less than £1000. Here, the judge acts as an arbitrator between the parties, in a much less formal manner than a trial. The hearing takes place in a private room rather than in a court room.
Tasks
Find a civil case and outline the key facts and decision made.
Read Unit 1 - Section A - Textbook pages 3-16
Create a lexicon or word list of all key words with their definitions. This includes all words in tables and in bold. And others which Mr Himbury identifies or you think are important.
