1. Lecturer: Miljen Matijašević G10, room 6/I, Tue 15:30-16:30 e-mail: miljen.matijasevic@gmail.commiljen.matijasevic@gmail.com Session 9, 12 Dec 2014

2. 1. Revision of the last session 2. Civil Procedure in the UK 3. Vocabulary practice

3. Legal Aid

4. 1. What two types of legal assistance do people usually need? 2. What are the means and merit tests? 3. What types of cases usually qualify for free legal aid? 4. What is a Conditional Fee Agreement?

5. Unit 9

6.  Concerned with disputes between individuals  Action taken by the aggrieved party

7.  procedure activated when one private citizen or enterprise seeks to bring another to court for a civil wrong against them, such as a breach of contract or a tort  TORT – an obligation NOT arising from a contract (e.g. negligence)

8.  Parties in a civil procedure (litigants): ◦ CLAIMANT (formerly PLAINTIFF)  the person filing a lawsuit ◦ DEFENDANT  the person being sued

9.  in civil trials, the task of the court – to establish whether the defendant is LIABLE  LIABILITY – legal responsibility  the standard of proof: a balance of probabilities  i.e. the claimant has to prove that it is more likely than not that the defendant is liable

10.  unlike in criminal cases, the State has no interest in the outcome of the case  it is up to the claimant to file a lawsuit, UNLESS the State is one of the litigants, i.e. parties to the procedure prescribe rules for civil procedures  the interest and task of the State is to enable resolution of a private dispute, i.e. prescribe rules for civil procedures

11.  although a vast majority of disputes do not end up in courts, in the past, courts used to be overburdened with cases, and litigation was infamously slow, complex and expensive  Civil Procedure Act (1997) – a radical reform  Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) ◦ simplify the procedure and provide for cuts in expenses and acceleration of proceedings

12.  claimant issues/files a claim by filling in the claim form  the claim form functions as a summons and is served on the defendant  the claim must include the particulars of the claim (details) and specify the remedy sought

13.  possible remedies ◦ COMPENSATION/DAMAGES (specified or unspecified monetary sum) ◦ INJUNCTION (a court order prohibiting certain conduct)  particulars may also include points of law and witness lists  claim forms must be served on the defendant within four months

14.  After he/she has been served, the defendant must within 14 days: ◦ admit the claim, ◦ file a defence, ◦ file a counterclaim, or ◦ acknowledge receipt

15.  if the defendant fails to choose any of those options, judgment may be given in favour of the claimant  if the defendant admits the claim, there is no trial  defendant may also request a default judgment  this is very frequent (3/4 of cases), e.g. in cases where a company is collecting debt from a customer

16.  parties encouraged to settle  Pre-action Protocols – guidelines aimed at resolving disputes before action is taken, i.e. before the cases come to court  encouraging the exchange of information and putting the parties into a position to settle fairly  otherwise – ADR (alternative dispute resolution) is also encouraged  only under 20 per cent of civil disputes are ever brought to court  if one party obstructs the negotiations, they can be penalized in costs, if the action later comes to court

17.  if the case goes to trial, the procedural judge will determine the type of procedure to be followed and set the timetable for the trial  The types of procedure are known as REGIMES or TRACKS

18.  This depends on: ◦ the remedy sought, ◦ the complexity of facts, law and evidence ◦ the number of parties, ◦ the importance of the claim to non-parties, etc.

19.  claims allocated to one of three regimes: 1.small claims track  for most actions under £5,000, which can be tried in a day 2.fast track  for most cases £5-15,000, or over one day’s trial 3.multi-track  for claims over £15,000

20.  small claims and fast track cases ◦ tried in county courts  multi-track cases ◦ tried in either county courts or the High Court of Justice

21.  usually conducted in a district judge’s chambers  judges may choose the procedure to follow: ◦ inquisitorial (judge asks most of the questions) ◦ adversarial (opening statements, cross- examination of witnesses)  judges give formal judgments applying the law and state their reasons orally

22.  standard procedure: ◦ disclosure (of documents which adversely affect the case or support another party’s case, or as otherwise required), ◦ exchange of witness statements, expert evidence, ◦ fixing the trial date

23.  complex cases, no standard procedure  high-profile cases, class actions (involving several claimants against one defendant)  intention is to be flexible  potentially high costs of trial – incentive to settle

24.  the following cases have been suggested for multi-track: ◦ those of public importance (e.g. a dyslexic suing her local education authority for failure to diagnose her condition) ◦ test cases (e.g. ex-miners suffering from respiratory diseases winning a case against British coal, which encouraged many others to claim compensation in 1988) ◦ clinical disputes (a.k.a. medical negligence) ◦ cases with the right to jury trial (e.g. contested divorces, contested probate cases, fraud, defamation, etc.)

25. 1. Claimant/claimant’s advocate makes their opening speech. 2. Claimant’s witnesses/expert witnesses are cross-examined, reports and documents are analysed 3. Defendant/defence advocate makes their opening speech 4. Defence witnesses/expert witnesses are cross-examined, reports and documents are analysed 5. Closing speeches by the parties or their representatives 6. Judge delivers judgment or sums up the evidence to the jury (if present) and they reach a verdict. Judge usually makes an order. 7. Judge hears arguments on costs an makes an order as to costs. 8. Judge hears applications for permission to appeal. Trials are recorded and transcripts may be requested.

26.  at the end of the claimant’s evidence in the trial, the defendant may submit to the court there is “no case to answer”  this means he considers that the claimant’s case has no real prospect of success  if the court agrees, it will uphold that submission and make a ruling in favour of the defendant

27. breach of contract tortclaimantdefendant liable - liability balance of probabilities file a claim summonsservice (to serve the claim ON the defendant) remedycompensationinjunctioncounterclaim small claims track fast track multi-track inquisitorial procedure adversarial procedure disclosure "no case to answer"

29. 1. The document in which the defendant makes a claim against the claimant:.............. 2. The document in which the defendant agrees to the claim made by the claimant: the form of.............. 3. The document starting a claim proceedings :............... 4. The system of justice in which each side collects and presents their own evidence and attacks their opponent by cross-examination:............... 5. The process by which the claimant is required to inform the defendant of documents they hold relevant to the claim:............... 6. The document giving evidence by someone who saw or heard something critical to the case............... 7. The system of justice in which the judge asks most of the questions:...............

30. 1. The document in which the defendant makes a claim against the claimant: COUNTERCLAIM 2. The document in which the defendant agrees to the claim made by the claimant: the form of ADMISSION 3. The document starting a claim proceedings : CLAIM FORM 4. The system of justice in which each side collects and presents their own evidence and attacks their opponent by cross-examination: ADVERSARIAL 5. The process by which the claimant is required to inform the defendant of documents they hold relevant to the claim: DISCLOSURE 6. The document giving evidence by someone who saw or heard something critical to the case WITNESS STATEMENT 7. The system of justice in which the judge asks most of the questions: INQUISITORIAL

31. Thank you for your attention!