CIVIL COURTS &

ADR
AIMS & SKILLS – LESSON 1
Aims:
• To have an understanding of the Civil Courts and how each court operates
• To outline pre-trial procedures and track systems
• To be clear about the types of exam questions on this topic
TOPIC PLAN

• You each have a copy of the topic plan for this topic
• Lets have a look…..

• Do you have any questions?

 WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

• County Court and High Court: jurisdictions, pre-trial procedures, the

three tracks (pp.18 - 23)
• Appeals and appellate courts
• Tribunals and Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Online courts and Online Dispute Resolution
• Evaluation of the civil courts and other forms of dispute resolution
GLOSSARY…

• You will need to create a Glossary of Key Terms.

• Keep this in your folder, as each lesson you will need to add new key
terms to your Glossary.
• It is incredibly important to understand and be able to define key terms.
• Yes – there is A LOT in Law!!!
 TYPES OF LAW

• There are many types of UK Law and as you know they are divided into two basic types.
1. Civil
2. Criminal
• In today’s lesson we are going to look at the differences between these two types of
law.
• Watch this short Edpuzzle and be ready to answer the 2 questions!
https://edpuzzle.com/media/5fc4f3d03ed77d40b31b6e79
SO WHAT ARE THE KEY DIFFERENCES?
  Civil Law Criminal Law
Work in
Purpose of the law
To establish and uphold the rights of the
individual
  pairs and
Person starting the case   The police and the Crown Prosecution Service
try and
Main courts dealing with the
complete
County court or ___________  
case
this table.
Standard, or burden of proof   Beyond all reasonable doubt

You have
10
Person(s) making the decision   (depending upon case) Magistrate or jury

Decision Liable or not liable  

Powers of the court Damages   minutes….
Answers

SO WHAT ARE THE KEY DIFFERENCES?

  Civil Law Criminal Law

Purpose of the law To establish and uphold the rights of the individual
To convict the offender of the crime
 

Person starting the case

The claimant
  The police and the Crown Prosecution Service

Main courts dealing with the case High Court

County court or ___________  Magistrates Court or Crown Court

Balance of probability
Standard, or burden of proof   Beyond all reasonable doubt

Person(s) making the decision  The judge (depending upon case) Magistrate or jury

Decision Liable or not liable  Guiltyor not guilty

Powers of the court Damages  Punishment
 THE CIVIL COURTS

• This topic covers two key areas that you will need to know for the exam:
• The Civil courts – jurisdictions of each court, pre-trial procedures and tracks.
• The appeals process
Civil courts
• Civil disputes involve individuals bringing claims against other individuals. The primary purpose is to get compensation for the
damage that they have suffered.
• There are two key civil courts, which are known as ‘courts of first instance’:
1. County court
2. High court
Whether a case starts in the county or high court depends on complexity of the case and the amount of money being claimed. 
 THE COUNTY COURT (P.18)

• There are about 200 County Courts.

• It is a court of first instance.
• They try nearly all civil cases involving Contract and Tort. Also land disputes.
• These cases are heard by a District or Circuit Judge.
• Only jury trials for false imprisonment and libel cases.
• Will hear small claims, fast track and some multi-track cases.
• Hears claims of less than £100,000 and PI claims of less than £50,000
 THE HIGH COURT (P.19)

• The High Court is based in London but has judges sitting in 26 trial centres throughout England
and Wales.
• It is a court of first instance and has the jurisdiction to hear any civil case. However, will mainly
hear multi-track and complex cases involving damages over £100,000 and Personal Injury of
over £50,000
• Also an appellate court for County Court claims.
• It has 3 divisions: each division deals with different matters.
• High court judges, and due to the divisions, these judges will be specialists in that particular area
of law.
Queen’s Bench- this is the biggest of the 3 divisions and hears contract and tort
cases where claims are over £100,000. It can also hear certain criminal appeals.
• There is also an administrative court which hears Judicial Review actions.
HOMEWORK TASK for next lesson - find out what Judicial Review is
Chancery- this division resolves disputes involving finance and property (business
and property related disputes, insolvency, tax and bankruptcy or specialist civil
cases. A jury is never used.
Family- deals with family matters for example; divorce, children's welfare and
medical treatment. Most family law matters are dealt with in Family Law courts
rather than High court family division. The Crime and Courts Act 2013 created a
new separate Family Court which means only complex cases now go to the High
Court.
LESSON 2
AIMS & SKILLS – LESSON 1
Aims:
• To have an understanding of the three tracks system
• Look through scenarios and allocate tracks

• Skills
• Factual recall
• Pair work
 WHICH COURT TO USE?
THE THREE TRACKS

Civil cases are allocated to a court based on how much is being claimed and the
complexity of the case.
Both parties are sent a allocation questionnaire to help this allocation..
1. Small claims £10,000 and under (PI claims of under £1,000)
2. Fast track £10,000- £25,000
3. Multi Track- £25,000 and over
TRACK ALLOCATION TASK!

• On the handout are three scenarios.

• In your groups, answer the questions.
• You must record your answers.
• You have 10 minutes.

Don't worry about ADR questions just yet!

 WHICH TRACK PROBLEM SOLVING.

• Danica- Fast Track, Circuit Judge.

• Adam- Small Claims- District Judge (ADR would work
here)
• Ethan- Multi Track- If over £100,00 then High Court.
TRACK SYSTEM
LETS TAKE A LOOK IN MORE DETAIL….
 SMALL CLAIMS

• Hearing is simple and informal

• Few rules about the admissibility and presentation of evidence.
• Judge asks the questions, there is no cross examination.
• It is usually a very quick process, with 60% of hearings taking less than 30 minutes.
• Designed to make it easy for parties to represent themselves without the aid of a lawyer and legal aid for
representation is not available.
• Cases of under £10,000 and £1,000 for PI.
• Case is likely to be heard by District Judge and ‘winner’ cannot recover their costs from the losing party.
FAST TRACK
• Claims of between £10,000 and no more than £25,000.
• Normally dealt with in the County Court who directs on the management of the case and sets
a strict timetable for the disclosure of documents, trial date and disclosure of documents. This
is to make sure there is no time wasting. Trial must take place within 30 weeks of this.
• The maximum length of a trial under this track is 1 day.
• Case likely to be heard by Circuit judge. Lawyers are allowed and generally only a single
expert witness, this is to reduce time wasting and running up of costs.
MULTI-TRACK

• These are cases of value in excess of £25,000.

• As it is more value and more complexity, cases normally heard by a senior judge, such as
Circuit Judge or High Court Judge.
• Upon allocation, the judge takes a ‘hands approach’ with case management.
• Timetables, gathering of evidence and control of expert witnesses in the hands of the judge.
ADR will be encouraged.
• For more complex cases, the court may fix a case management conference or pre-trial
review, or both. Only fixes a date once ‘practicable to do so’, unlike the Fast Track. 
HOW CLAIMS ARE STARTED (P.20)

• This is the pre-trial procedure…

• Claimant brings a case against the Defendant.
• C must complete a N1 form setting out particulars of their case. C issues their claim.
• D has 14 days to acknowledge this, and provide a defence. If the D fails to do this, C enters judgment in
default, and is awarded damages.
• If D files a defence, parties are given allocation questionnaire..
• The great majority of cases are settled before there is a court hearing. Pre-trial procedures are incredibly
important!
 WOOLF REFORMS (P.23)

You need to read the information on pages 23-24

Summary
• Major changes were made to the Civil Justice System.
• Woolf carried out far-reaching review ‘Access to Justice’ in 1996 with an aim of creating a more just, fair, affordable and efficient civil justice
system, so there is more access to justice.
• His reforms brought in the 3 track system, more use of ADR, judges managing cases, and simplified procedures of rules and documents.
• However there are still MANY problems facing our civil justice system, such as:
- ADR not being used enough
- Costs are still increasing
- Courts are under resourced…
 LORD BIGGS REVIEW 2016

• Proposed an online court for claims up to £25,000 designed without lawyer involvement..
• 3 stages: (1) automated online triage stage where users can upload documents and evidence (2) a case
management stage (3) a determination stage by a District Judge either at trial, telephone hearing or video
conference
What are your thoughts on this……
• Provides a second-class justice to those viewed as having ‘less important claims’
• Stage 1 is automated and surely beyond capabilities of current IT systems..
• What about those without access to a computer, or internet?
• Loss of open justice and transparency, when compared to attending court face-face
REVIEW YOUR LEARNING…

NO NOTES…
1. What is the purpose of Civil law?
2. Name the parties to a Civil claim.
3. What is the value of claims heard in a County Court?
4. What is the value of claims heard in a High Court?
5. Confirm the 3 tracks and their values…
AIMS & SKILLS 10.09.21

Aims:
• To re-call key points from Thursdays lesson
• To outline appeal routes and courts in Civil Law
• To complete an Advantages and Disadvantages task

Skills:
• AO1
• AO3
 HOW MUCH DO YOU REMEMBER?

  1 Small Claims 2 Fast Track 3 Multi Track

• Please
Amount  
complete the
table without
Court your notes!
• You have 10
Judge minutes
 
 FACTUAL RE-CALL
  1 Small Claims 2 Fast Track 3 Multi Track

Amount Up to £10,000 10,-25,000 all other losses £25,000

£1,000 personal injury
  1,000-25,000 personal
injury

Court County County High Court (County in

  some less complex cases)

Judge District District or Circuit Circuit or High Court

 
APPEALS &
APPELLATE COURTS
APPEAL COURTS

• Once a decision has been made in either the County Court or High
Court, there is always the possibility of appealing against this decision.
• Different appeal routes due to:
- which court
- value of the claim
- level of judge who heard the case…
GROUNDS TO APPEAL

• there was an error of law

• there was an error of fact

• there was procedural unfairness

APPEAL ROUTE FROM COUNTY
COURT OF APPEAL Second appeals are only
(CIVIL DIVISION) allowed in exceptional cases
s55 Access to Justice Act 1999

Circuit Judge High Court Judge

in the County Court

Case heard by District Judge Case heard by Circuit Judge

APPEAL ROUTE FROM HIGH COURT

SUPREME COURT

COURT OF APPEAL LEAPFROG APPEAL TO SUPREME COURT.

This must involve an issue of national importance or raise issues of
(CIVIL DIVISION) significant importance. Administration of Justice Act 1969.
Permission must be granted.

HIGH COURT
 FIRST APPEAL FROM TRACKS

SMALL CLAIMS FAST TRACK MULTI-TRACK

• Go to Circuit judge but stays in • High court • If appeal is on a point of law of

County court general public importance
• Can appeal to Court of Appeal
there can be a leapfrog to the
• If heard by a Circuit Judge
• There can be a leapfrog appeal Supreme court under the AJA
then it can go to High Court
to Supreme 1969.
judge
Court but must involve issues
• A further appeal from COA can
• A further appeal (second of national importance. AJA
be made to the Supreme court
appeal) can be made under s.55 1969
but it is quite rare.
of the AJA 1999 to the Court
of Appeal.
CIVIL COURT HIERACHY TASK

• Create a diagram to illustrate the hierarchy of Civil Courts.

• You will need to show the courts of first instance, and appeal
courts.
• Make this as detailed as possible from your notes – this will help
you for revision 
• You have 15 minutes….
 ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF CIVIL
COURTS?
Why do you have to learn these?
A question may ask you to compare going to court with a method of ADR so it is important to look at the
good and bad points
Task
In your pairs I would like you to come up with:
1. Two reasons why taking a civil case to court may be a good thing
2. Two reasons why taking a civil case to court may be a bad thing
You have 5 minutes
 UNDERSTANDING THE ADVANTAGES &
DISADVANTAGES
• Using your textbooks and the handout I would like you to complete the chart.
• The most important aspect of this task is for you to EVALUATE and think about why it is good or bad.
• You have 20 minutes to work on this.
• You must NOT copy what is in the textbook or the handout but put it into your own words.
• POINT
• EVIDENCE
• EXPLAIN
AIMS & SKILLS 16-9-21

Aims:
• To re-call key facts on the Civil Court system
• To begin to understand what ADR is, and methods used
• Look at Tribunals, ODR and Arbitration in detail
• Evaluation of methods of ADR

Skills:
• AO1
• AO3
HOW MUCH DO YOU REMEMBER?

Lets discuss your homework task –

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES of Civil
Courts..
WHAT IS ADR?
• ADR stands for Alternative Dispute Resolution.
• This involves methods of resolving your civil dispute without going to court.
• There are many reasons why a person may not want to go to court.

Can you think of any reasons why a person may not want to go to
court to settle a civil dispute?
TYPES OF ADR.
There are 6 types of ADR that you can be expected to discuss in the exam
1. Arbitration
2. Tribunals
3. Mediation
4. Negotiation
5. Conciliation
6. Online Dispute Resolution
TRIBUNALS
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW…

• What they are used for

• The different tiers and the type of cases they hear
• Who sits on the case in each tier (composition)
• Procedure in each tier
• Advantages and disadvantages
 TRIBUNALS (P.27)
Summary
• Regulated by the Tribunals, Courts & Enforcement Act 2007
• Created in order to give people a method of enforcing their entitlement to certain social rights e.g. employment
discrimination cases.
• Share many of the same characteristics of courts. As with courts, one party can decide to take the case to a tribunal,
irrespective of the wishes of the other.
• All types are legally binding.
• Unlike ADR where parties decide not to go to court, parties in Tribunals CANNOT resolve their dispute in court, they
MUST use a Tribunal.
• Panels are made up of a tribunal judge and two non-legally qualified experts who are subject specialists.
EXAMPLES OF TRIBUNALS

1. First Tier Tribunal – deals with 600,000 cases each year and
operates in 7 chambers
2. Upper Tribunal hear appeals – divided into 4 chambers. Also can
appeal from here to COA and SC.
3. Employment Tribunal – hears claims for unfair dismissal,
redundancy and discrimination
COMPLETE HANDOUT

Read pp. 27 – 29 of your textbooks.

Work in pairs to complete your handout on Tribunals.

You have 15 minutes….

ONLINE DISPUTE RESOLUTION (P.34)

• This is the newest method of ADR and has come about due to advances in the use of
computers and the internet
• Essentially ADR ‘over the internet’..

HOMEWORK for next lesson..

You need to complete the ODR section on the handout and all tasks on it. This
means you need to hand in your complete booklet – so all needs to be completed.
ODR TASK (P.34-35)

Read about the 3 different types of ODR:

1. eBay
2. Resolver
3. Financial Ombudsman Service
ARBITRATION
COMPLETE ADR HANDOUT

Complete ‘Arbitration’ section of your handout as we

go through it together….
 KEY THINGS TO KNOW…

1. The agreement to Arbitrate- how does the decision to use

Arbitration occur?
2. Arbitrator
3. The hearing
4. The award
5. Examples
 ARBITRATION (P. 32)
• This is one way in which you can resolve disputes without action.
• Both sides voluntarily agree to an independent third party making a
decision on their case and the process is normally put into writing to
keep things clear.
• The process is governed by the Arbitration Act 1996.
• http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1711
WHO DECIDES?

Agreement to arbitrate can by made by the parties at any time:

1. Before a dispute arises = Scott v Avery clause in commercial

contracts
2. When a dispute becomes apparent
3. After dispute arises – increasingly popular in commercial cases.
 2 TYPES OF ARBITRATION
• 1). Consumer- this is done to help relationships between consumers and businesses. The
Office of Fair Trading encourages trade associations to set up arbitration schemes to deal
with disputes between traders and the public. They are often paper based so that the
parties do not have to attend. The best example is the scheme run by ABTA/ATOL to
deal with disputes arising out of package holidays e.g. Thomas Cook
• 2). Commercial- this is done business to business and it’s aim is to solve disputes that
arise in business contracts as quickly as possible. They are popular because they are
private and limit bad publicity. Most businesses adopt a Scott v Avery Clause.
 THE ARBITRATOR P.32
• S. 15 of the Arbitration Act 1996 states that parties are free to agree on the number of
arbitrators.
• A panel of two or three can be used but most cases just involve one.
• If parties cant agree – Act provides just one.
• Most are chosen by the subject matter of the dispute e.g. commercial disputes will often
have the president of the trade organisation selecting the Arbitrator.
• The Institute of Arbitrators provides trained Arbitrators for major disputes.
• If no agreement on who/how to appoint, court as last resort will appoint arbitrator.
HEARING (P.33)
• Actual procedure is left to the agreement of the parties
• Date/ time/ place are decided by parties and arbitrators – making
this very flexible.
• The process can change considerably, depending on the parties
involved and their needs. So, the hearing varies from case to case.
• The majority will be paper based with no need for an actual hearing.
 THE AWARD

• The decision that is made by the Arbitrator is called an award and is

legally binding.
• It can be enforced through the courts if necessary.
 ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES (P. 33)

• Read through these on page 33 and the use the box on your
handout to make summary points.
• You have 10 minutes.
AIMS & SKILLS 20-9-20

Aims:
• To explore conciliation, mediation and negotiation
• Evaluate conciliation, mediation and negotiation as methods of ADR
Skills:
• Factual re-call – A01
• Evaluation – A03
MEDIATION, CONCILIATION & NEGOTIATION-
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW….

Pages 29- 32
• These 3 methods of ADR are the least formal but quite similar.
• You need to be sure that you are clear about:
• Specific examples.
• Each methods distinguishing features.
UNDERSTANDING ADR..
These are some videos and websites which may help you to better
understand Negotiation, Mediation and Conciliation…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSGcTqmdSZc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrAFI4L9XcA
https://www.acas.org.uk/dispute-resolution
 NEGOTIATION (P.29-30)
Watch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSGcTqmdSZc
Summary
• The first method of resolving disputes - Parties try and communicate without litigation.
• Any dispute can be resolved in this way.
• It will only concern the parties and any representation they may have.
• There are no costs involved.
• It is not legally binding and most legal representatives would encourage you to take some legal action
over an agreement.
• EXAMPLE - Private negotiation service - Bankruptcy Advisory Service
 MEDIATION- P.30
Summary
• Mediation involves an independent third party attempting to find some
common ground between two parties in dispute. The mediator acts as a
facilitator between the two. The process will only work if there is some
midway point that the two parties actively try to find acceptable. 
• Example - Family Mediation. Parties in a family case must show they have attended a Mediation
Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM) before court proceedings. Exception is where they has been domestic
violence.
 CONCILIATION- P. 31
• Similar to mediation but the conciliator(who is neutral) is able to intervene: can suggest
grounds to compromise, and possible basis for a settlement.
• Conciliator can organise a meeting that is convenient for all parties.
• Will listen to both parties and make suggestions as to how the problem can be solved.
• Can be legally enforceable if the parties agree.
• If no agreement is reached then it can go to a court or tribunal.
• EXAMPLE – ACAS (Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service)
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF
NEGOTIATION, MEDIATION AND CONCILIATION

• These will be quite similar so you have to be sure that you can
distinguish where possible via supporting examples.
• Read them on pages 30-33 and then complete the summary
boxes on your handout
 EXAMPLES OF QUESTIONS

• Examples of Civil Courts questions

• Explain how the track system works in the civil courts (8)
• Discuss the main problems that exist in civil cases (12)

• Examples of ADR questions

• Explain arbitration as a form of Alternative Dispute Resolution. [8]
• Discuss the advantages of using arbitration as a way of dealing with a civil dispute. [12]
HOMEWORK…

You need to revise all we have done on this topic, which is pages 18-36
A Group – Thursday 30th
F Group – Wednesday 29 September
D Group – Friday 1 October

You will have to complete 2 questions.

One 8 mark and one 12 mark under timed conditions with no notes
USEFUL WEBSITES

• www.gov.uk/courts-tribunals
• www.judiciary.uk/about-the-judiciary/who-are-the-judiciary/judicial-roles/tribunals/tribun
als/