Comprehensive Guide to Civil Litigation Procedures and Strategies
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Course
Civil Litigation Notes (LW7119)
Institution
Northumbria University (UNN)
This document provides a comprehensive overview of civil litigation procedures and strategies. It serves as an essential guide for students, legal practitioners, and anyone interested in understanding the intricacies of civil litigation. The notes cover a wide range of topics, including:
Introdu...
Examinable material
Chapter 1 – General Matters
1. The overriding objective
2. The duty of the court to manage cases
3. General principles of Alternative Dispute Resolution
4. Timing the use of ADR
1. CPR 1.1 (Overriding Objective)
(1) These Rules are a procedural code with the overriding
objective of enabling the court to deal with cases justly and at
proportionate cost.
(2) Dealing with a case justly and at proportionate cost includes,
so far as is practicable –
(a) ensuring that the parties are on an equal footing and can
participate fully in proceedings, and that parties and witnesses
can give their best evidence;
(b) saving expense;
(c) dealing with the case in ways which are proportionate –
(i) to the amount of money involved;
(ii) to the importance of the case;
(iii) to the complexity of the issues; and
(iv) to the financial position of each party;
(d) ensuring that it is dealt with expeditiously and fairly;
(e) allotting to it an appropriate share of the court’s resources,
while taking into account the need to allot resources to other
cases; and
(f) enforcing compliance with rules, practice directions and orders.
Application by the court of the overriding objective
1.2
The court must seek to give effect to the overriding objective
when it –
,(a) exercises any power given to it by the Rules; or (b) interprets
any rule subject to rules 76.2, 79.2 and 80.2, 82.2 and 88.2.
Duty of the parties
1.3
The parties are required to help the court to further the overriding
objective.
2. CPR 1.4.4 (Encouraging co-operation between parties)
Active case management includes encouraging parties to co-
operate with each other in the conduct of the proceedings. The
objective is to make the court’s powers as to the award of costs
more effective as incentives for responsible party behaviour and
more compelling as deterrents against unreasonable behaviour.
Court could also order disclosure of documents or inspection of
property before a claim is made for the purpose of encouraging
co-operation between the parties.
CPR 1.4.9 (Helping parties to settle)
Active case management includes helping the parties to settle the
whole or part of the case. The use of ADR or Part 36 are intended
to divert cases from the court system or to ensure that those
cases which do go through the system are disposed of as rapidly
as possible.
The court should also consider its discretion to stay claims which
are brought in breach of an agreement between parties to
attempt resolve their dispute by reference to expect
determination. In such cases there is a presumption in favour of
the discretion being exercised to stay proceedings. The burden
lies on the party resisting the stay to persuade the court that
there is a good reason for no stay to be imposed.
CPR 1.4.11(Encouraging use of alternative dispute resolution
(ADR) procedure)
,Furthering the overriding objectives includes hearing or ordering
the use of early neutral evaluation.
Chapter 14 – Disclosure and Inspection of Documents
1. Disclosure and inspection of documents
2. Specific Disclosure
3. Collateral use of disclosure documents
4. Pre-action disclosure
5. Disclosure against non-parties
6. Legal professional privilege and without prejudice
communications in civil cases
1. 31.1 - Disclosure and Inspection of documents
(1) This Part sets out rules about the disclosure and inspection of
documents.
(2) This Part applies to all claims except a claim on the small
claims track.
31.2 - Meaning of disclosure
A party discloses a document by stating that the document exists
or has existed.
31.3 - Right of inspection of a disclosed document
(1) A party to whom a document has been disclosed has a right to
inspect that document except where (a) the document is no
longer in the control of the party who disclosed it; (b) the party
disclosing the document has a right or a duty to withhold
inspection of it, or (c) paragraph (2) applies.
, (2) Where a party considers that it would be disproportionate to
the issues in the case to permit inspection of documents within a
category or class of document disclosed under rule 31.6(b) – (a)
he is not required to permit inspection of documents within that
category or class; but (b) he must state in his disclosure
statement that inspection of those documents will not be
permitted on the grounds that to do so would be disproportionate.
31.4 - Meaning of document, In this Part – ‘document’ means
anything in which information of any description is recorded; and
‘copy’, in relation to a document, means anything onto which
information recorded in the document has been copied, by
whatever means and whether directly or indirectly.
31.5 - Disclosure
(1) In all claims to which rule 31.5(2) does not apply –
(a) an order to give disclosure is an order to give standard
disclosure unless the court directs otherwise; (b) the court may
dispense with or limit standard disclosure; and (c) the parties may
agree in writing to dispense with or to limit standard disclosure.
(2) Unless the court otherwise orders, paragraphs (3) to (8) apply
to all multi-track claims, other than those which include a claim
for personal injuries.
(3) Not less than 14 days before the first case management
conference each party must file and serve a report verified by a
statement of truth, which –
(a) describes briefly what documents exist or may exist that are
or may be relevant to the matters in issue in the case; (b)
describes where and with whom those documents are or may be
located; (c) in the case of electronic documents, describes how
those documents are stored; (d) estimates the broad range of
costs that could be involved in giving standard disclosure in the
case, including the costs of searching for and disclosing any
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