The Civil Courts and other forms of Dispute Resolution

Civil Courts and Appeal System Court of First Instance County Court Court of First Instance/ Appeal Hearing High Court Appeal Hearing Court of Appeal Appeal Hearing Supreme Court

Civil Courts and Appeal System Court of First Instance Civil disputes between individuals, partnerships, companies, and/or local or national Government departments County Court Magistrate Court High Court Appeal Hearings When a party to a civil case is dissatisfied with the court’s decision and requests a higher court to review the earlier decision High Court Court of Appeal Supreme Court

Role of the County Court Deals with many types of civil disputes such as cases of contract, tort, bankruptcy, property and divorce Divided into 3 types Cases involving less than £10,000: small claims track: District Judges Cases involving between £10,000 - £25,000: fast track: Circuit Judges Cases involving over £25,000: multi track: Circuit Judge or transferred to High Court

Role of the High Court Court of first instance Three divisions: Queen’s Bench Division Family Division Chancery Division Approximately 120 High Court Judges Appeal Hearings Queen’s Bench Division has appellate jurisdiction in respect of judicial review Technically, judicial review is not an appeal but a consideration by the court

Role of the Court of Appeal Court of Appeal has a Civil Division which hears appeals from County Court and High Court Appeals heard by 3-5 judges An appeal is not a rehearing, but is a review of the case and can reverse, vary or confirm a decision Goodwill v British Pregnancy Advisory Service (1996)

The court had to decide the difficult question of whether BPAS was liable for the negligent advise given to a married male patient (who underwent a vasectomy), which he passed the advise on to his girlfriend who relied on the advice and fell pregnant The court held that as BPAS was unaware of the girlfriend, there was no liability

Role of the Supreme Court Final court of appeal in civil law (in England) Must be on a point of law AND either: Public importance; OR Bound by precedent There is a leap frog procedure provided by the Administration of Justice Act 1969 where the case goes straight from High Court to Supreme Court

Alternative Dispute Resolution Reasons for ADR It is expensive and time consuming It can be stressful for people involved and there is a chance of losing in the court May be reported in press if heard in courts Advantages of ADR Most are quicker and cheaper and procedure is less formal Parties involved have more control as the matter is held privately Most involve reaching a compromise rather than win/lose

Activity Without using your notes Draw the order of the courts on your mini- whiteboards