Law- Civil courts & Dispute Resolution

Magistrates Court 

• first instance
• family matters 
• unpaid council tax, charges for water, gas and electricity
• Heard by a District Judge

County Court

• First Instance 
• Contract, Tort eg. negligence, bankruptcy, property
• Heard by a Circuit Judge

High Court

• First instance- 3 divisions
• OBD- Contract, Tort
• Family- family, divorce, chidren, financial claims, adoption and care
• Chancery- partnerships, company laws, wills, trusts

• Heard by a High Court Judge
• Appeals- 3 divisions
• OBD- criminal appeals- judicial review
• Family- appeals from Magistrates' and county courts
• Chancery- appeals, bankruptcy- from county court

The Court of Appeal Civil Division

• Appellate Jurisdiction- civil matters from County Court, High Court and Employment Tribunals
• 35 Lord Justices of Appeal, led by the masters of the Rolls 
• 3-5 Judges hear an appeal, which requires leave to appeal from trial judge or Appeal Court to be heard.

The Supreme Court

• Appellate Jurisdiction- final court of appeal for England and Wales
• Hear appeals on civil matters from CofA 
• Also leapfrog from High Court. About 200 cases per year.
• 12 justices of the Supreme Court  

• 3-5 Judges hear the appeal which requires leave to appeal from appeal court or Supreme Court 
• must be a matter of public importance

The European Court of Justice

• Under A234 of Treaty of Rome 1957 an English Court can refer a point of European Law to the ECJ
• ECJ's decision is binding but must be applied by the English Court

You first need to fill out a claims form for your claim. 

The small claims track- in the county court. Cases below £5,000 (or 1000 if personal injury or housing/ parties encouraged to represent themselves & no legal aids costs available. The district Judge is informal and flexible in his approach.

The fast track- in the county court. Cases between £5-25k, although lower limit if housing or personal injury. Heard within a day by a Circuit Judge, with a strict timetable imposed (below 30 weeks).

The multi track- in the county court. Cases between £25-50k and straight-forward law. Personal injury cases will be heard in the County Court up to £50k. Heard by Circuit Judges.

In the High Court. Cases between £25-50k and complex law. Above £50k must be in the High Court and Defmation must be in the High Court. Heard by High Court Judges.

Negotiation

• Most simple form of ADR
• Informal negotiation- a discussion conducted by the disputing parties
• Communication by; face to face discussion, letter, telephone, email.
• Can however alternatively be carried out through the parties lawyers.
• Parties reach a compromise and decide the level of damages or other remedy themselves. Not legally binding (in court they would be bound by Judges decision)
• General examples, Domestic Disputes such as neighbour disagreements and Commercial disputes between businesses.

Mediation

• A mediator is a independent third party 
• Encourages parties to reach a compromise and settle the dispute themselves
• The mediator's skills help the parties involved in the dispute to move away from who is right or wrong; but to working out how they can resolve the problem. Acts as a neutral go between 
• Doesn't Judge the case 
• Not legally binding

• Shuttle mediation don't need to meet face to face 
• General examples of businesses who carry out the service, Centre for effective dispute resolution and West Kent mediation service

Conciliation

• Concilator meets parties seperately 
• Identifies the issues tries to the parties to understand each other position 
• Concilator may find a solution no one thought of
• He will encourage them to come to a compromise but he will give his opinion and uggest a solution
• Commercial mediation- employment disputes eg. sex discrimination 
• The Advisory, Concilation and Arbitation Service provides a concilation service
• It is voluntary and both parties must agree
• Not legally binding

Arbitration

• Arbitration governed by The Arbitration Act, Arbitator must fairly and impartially, Arbitrator determines the procedure.
• Arbitrator, independent 3rd party- resolves disputes by makinga legally binding decision 
• Arbitration Clause- included in business contracts state that disputes must be settled by Arbitration 
• 1 arbitrator or a panel 2/3- parties choose who and number
• The arbitrator is an expert in relevant subject matter 
• Commercial disputes eg. Arbitration arranged bu Chattered Institute of Arbitrators [CIA] for Bristish Telecom and ABTA for Holiday disputes
• Arbitration hearing parties meet together- can be represented by lawyers
• Informal- by post, evidence form, photos etc- a bundle
• Arbitrators are paid by losing party
• Appeals on grounds that no reasonable arbitrator would have reached that decision- through the CIA

Tribunals

• Similar function as courts 
• Th tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, provides a new structure 
• Each tribunal is called a chamber within the standardised system. Each chamber has its own president 
• Provides a 2 tier system, provides for appeals
• Longstanding tribunals will remain outside the new system eg Employment 
• Judge and 2 experts in the subject matter
• Different Tribbunals for a particular type of disputes- hs it own procedures and rules of evidence.
• Tribunals specialise in one area 
• 70 types
• Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council- supervise and review them
• carried out in private 
• Deals with on types of dispute eg. Employment Tribunal, Land, In house
• Relatively formal some informal 
• Parites legally represented 
• Legally binding decision 

Advantages of negotiation, mediation and conciliation

• Cheaper than court trial. No lawyers are needed so cheaper compared to the court trial.
• Ouick compared to courts- courts are extremely busy with resultant delays.
• Non confrontational- can allow relationships to continue. Avoids the adversarial nature of court.
• Specialists- service provided by specialists trained in facilitating the resolution to problems- mediation and conciliation

Disadvantages of negotiation, mediation and conciliation

• Not legally binding- parties must be prepared to uphold their agreement. If a party breaks the agreement it cannot be enforced. 
• Mediation, negotiation and conciliation is not likely to be successful if the parties aren't willing to compromise.
• Relies on the parties abiding by the settlement
• Sometimes one party is stronger- might be liable to intimidation 

Advantages of arbitration, tribunals and courts

• Legal expertise and experience of the Judge- paries should have confidence in the decision 
• Some cases are publically funded eg. divorce and legal costs can be awarded- promotes access to justice.
• Remedies are useful eg. damages, injunctions. Can be legally enforceable
• Appeals- available if a party thinks the decision is flawed

Disadvantages of arbitration, tribunals and courts

• Judges lacks specialist technical knowledge
• Delays are common, lengthy- big workload of the court can be avoided in arbitration and tribunals.
• Inflexible procedure- precedent 
• Expensive- costs of lawyers and legal procedures
• Can cause negative publicity.