Summary
Civil Courts Summary sheet
Civil courts summery sheet for OCR A level Law
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-Civil Courts-Civil claims: Civil claims are made in the civil courts when an individual or business believes that their rights have
been infringed in some way
Main examples:
- Contract law
- Law of tort
- Family law
- Employment law
- Company law
When a dispute occurs, it is normal to try to resolve the dispute through negotiation or by another form of ADR
Civil cases are dealt with in two courts:
- The High Court
- The County Court
COUNTY COURT
There are about 170 county courts, the county court can try nearly all civil cases
Its main areas of jurisdiction are:
- All contract and tort claims
- All cases for the recovery of land
- Disputes over equitable matters such as trusts up to £350,000
Cases in the county court are heard by a circuit judge or a district judge
On very occasions a judge may sit with a jury of 8 (defamation, malicious prosecution and false imprisonment)
HIGH COURT
The High Court is based in London but has judges sitting in several towns and cities throughout England and Wales.
It has the jurisdiction to hear any civil case. It is split into three divisions, each of which specialises in hearing certain
types of case:
- Queen's Bench Division
- Chancery Division
- Family Division
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
The Queen's Bench Division is the biggest of the three divisions of the high court. It deals with contract and tort
claims where the amount claimed is over £100,000 (It can also hear smaller claims where there is an important
point of law)
Cases are usually heard by a single judge
(There is a right to jury of 12 for fraud, libel (Mclibel), slander, malicious prosecution and false imprisonment cases)
Administrative court: There is also an administrative court in the Queen's Bench Division that supervises the
lawfulness of the conduct of national and local government and inferior courts and tribunals by carrying out judicial
reviews
, CHANCERY DIVISION
This division deals with disputes concerned with:
- Insolvency
- Mortgages
- Trust property
- Copyright and Patents (Dyson v Hoover)
Companies Court: There is also a special companies court in the division that deals with matters relating to
companies
Cases are heard by a single judge and Juries are never used in this division
FAMILY DIVISION
The family division handles family matters under the Hague convention (can also hear cases about forced marriage
and Female genital mutation)
Hague Convention: A treaty that provides a quick method to return a child that has been internationally abducted
The Crime and Courts Act (2013) created a separate Family Court and the majority of family matters previously
dealt with in the Family division are now heard in the family court but cases may be transferred to the Family Division
if complex issues are involved.
The family Division also hear appeals from certain decisions made by the Family Court.
PRE-TRIAL PROCEDURE
Both sides will first try to negotiate an agreed settlement using ADR. The majority of cases are settled and do not go
to court.
To prevent going to court parties are encouraged to give info to each other. A pre-action protocol has to be followed
Pre-action protocols: A list of things to be done and if both parties do not follow the procedure they risk being
liable for certain costs if they make a claim to court
If the other person denies liability or refuses to use ADR then the next step is court. The court where the case is
started depends on the amount of the claim
ISSUING A CLAIM
If someone is using the county court they can choose to issue the claim in any of the 170 County Courts in the
country
If they are using the High Court they can go to one of the 20 District Registries or the main court in London
The person issuing the claim will need to fill in an N1 form or they can make a money claim online. The claim has to
be filed at a court office and a fee will be charged for issuing the claim. (The more the claim the higher the fee)
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