Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Civil Courts
- County Court
- Contract and tort claims
- Recovery of land cases
- Disputes over partnerships, trusts
and inheritance up to £30,000
- Divorces
- Small claims,
fast track and
multi track
- Personal injury cases less
than £50,000 must be started
here
- If claim is smaller than £25,000
must be started here
- High Court
- 3 Divisions
- Queen's Bench Division (QBD)
- Contract and tort
cases over
£50,000
- Only multi track
- Commercial court -
insurance and
banking
- Admiralty court - shipping
- Technology and Construction court -
complex building issues
- Defamation cases
must start here
- Family Division
- Divorce/nullity of marriage
- All cases relating to children
- Property in divorces
- Wills
- Chancery Division
- Insolvency
- Mortgages
- Disputes relating to property
- Copyright
- Claims cases
- Small claims
- Up to £10,000
- People encouraged to
take own cases to keep
costs low
- Fast track claims
- £10,000 - £25,000
- Aim to hear cases
within 30 weeks
- In 2009 average wait
was 48 weeks
- Multi-track claims
- Above £25,000
- Dealt with by a
Circuit Judge
- The Woolf Reforms 1995
- Extended small claims
from £75 to £3,000
- Extended fast track
claims up to £10,000
- Extended multi-track
claims over £10,000
- Made court terminology
easier to understand
- Reforms put in reports called
Access to Justice
- Issuing a claim
- Need to fill out an N1 form
- Can get advice
from Citizen's
Advice Bureau
- Court fees for issuing a claim
- £30 for claim up to £300
- £108 for claim under £5,000
- £230 for claim between £5,000 - £15,000
- £800 for claim over £150,000
- If defendant wants to dispute
claim they must fill out an N9 form
within 14 days
- Civil Court heirarchy
- European Court
of Justice -
Supreme Court -
Court of Appeal
(Civil Division) -
Family/Chancery
Divisions - High
Court - County
Court -
Magistrates'
Court
- Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
- Negotiation
- Completely private
- Quick and cheap
- High no. of cases
settled outside of
court
- Mediation
- Neutral mediator helps
parties reach a solution
- Consults w/ both parties to find
common ground but makes no
decisions
- Centre for Dispute
Resolution - set up in 1991
- Conciliation
- Similar to mediation
- Plays a more active role -
gives opinion and suggests
grounds for compromise
- Arbitration
- 2 different processes
- 1. courts use informal procedure
- 2. parties agree to submit
claims to private arbitration
- Voluntary submission of parties'
dispute to the judgement of
someone else
- Agreement usually in
writing
- Very formal
- Governed by Arbitration Act