Lsm Assignment 4

Name: Muhammad Abdul Rehman

Student Id: 214446
CertHe Common Law

Question: Briefly account for what the civil justice system entails, the
challenges it faces and address the calls for reform as to whether they are
justified or if the system is efficient in its operation.

This question requires a detailed analysis of the civil justice system, its
challenges and the reforms needed to make it more efficient. Civil justice
encompasses a wide range of topics in which people, businesses, or other
organisations attempt to resolve conflicts or guarantee that their rights are
honoured. Uk’s civil justice system is in desperate need of modernisation. A lot of
reforms can be placed to solve the issues it is facing, like the government can set
up a time-limited, adequately resourced expert legal modernisation commission,
which can analyse the scale of the problems and identify reform proposals, with
the explicit aim of updating the corpus of English law to make it world-leading.

The civil justice system facilitates positive order and economic activity, but a
combination of events over the last decade has resulted in a scenario in which
the value of civil justice is being weakened and the civil courts are in disrepair. It
can be analyzed that civil justice has changed in England and throughout the
world during the last decade in light of rising criminal justice spending and
disappearing civil trials. In critically analysing the claims and practise of civil
mediation, the question of whether diverting cases out of public courts and into
private dispute resolution promotes access to justice examines the judiciary's
changed expectations in civil justice. It emphasises the need for a better
understanding of how judges do justice. In most cases, judges in the Civil
jurisdiction do not sentence the losing side. Typically, the court will award
financial 'damages' to the prevailing party; the magnitude of this award will be
determined by the facts of the case. The court may issue an order or an
injunction mandating certain behaviour to occur or cease. This concept in itself
seems shaky and not well-supported.
Firstly, the judge will study the necessary case papers and become acquainted
with their specifics when a civil case is presented. The great majority of civil
matters conducted in court do not involve a jury. Most of the time, a judge hears
them alone and decides them by gathering information and applying relevant
legislation. Disputes concerning the facts and what that legislation truly is may be
made. When the argument is over, the judge will render a reasoned decision.
Judges also have an active role in the management of civil proceedings after
they have begun, ensuring that they go fairly, efficiently, and correctly. On rare
occasions, the parties will strike an agreement before the matter is heard by a
court. This may be in the form of a settlement. A settlement is a mutual
agreement reached between two parties that settles a conflict and which results
in the dismissal of any litigation. A settlement can be beneficial because it speeds
up the process of litigation and thereby avoids ongoing legal fees.

If no settlement is achieved then it goes to trial and after the matter is resolved,
the judge must address the cost of the litigation. These may include the costs of
any lawyers, court fees paid by the parties, fees of expert witnesses, allowances
that may be given to litigants who have acted in person (without lawyers), lost
earnings, and travel and other expenses incurred by the parties and their
witnesses. The general rule is that the losing party must pay the winning side's
costs, although the judge has broad authority to deviate from this rule. The
judgement of the court in this phase of the case will be crucial to the parties.

The Civil Division of the Court of Appeal hears appeals from all Divisions of the
High Court, as well as from County Courts and certain Tribunals in select cases.
Launching an appeal requires gaining 'permission,' which can be granted by the
lower court or, more commonly, by the Court of Appeal itself. Applications for
permission to appeal are usually decided by a single Lord or Lady Justice,
whereas complete appeals are decided by three judges. Cases from the Upper
Tribunal are also heard in the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal.

Now moving on to the problems and the reforms of the civil justice system. It is
very difficult for small and medium-sized businesses to use the civil justice
system when necessary. Also for an underprivileged person, the civil justice
system is not the most ideal. However, excessive time and cost are significant
concerns for larger businesses involved in disputes, too. The cost is still one of
 the biggest problems of the civil justice system. The delay and cost risk
associated with using civil courts is important reasons why mediation, for
example, has become increasingly common among international businesses.
Further, there is a persistent problem with the recruitment and retention of
judges, which contributes to the slowness and cost of litigation.

To solve these problems, the first step should be the government setting out the
aim of moving the system to the ‘global frontier’ by 2030 so that it was “at least
as effective as the best systems in the world”. English law needs to be
modernised and reformed in such a way that gaps in the law and practices are
filled. The system needs to be able to identify how it can help achieve complete
justice. To ensure a level of quality control over the use of English law in other
jurisdictions, the government should make funds available for the judiciary to
train foreign judges, as well as look to fund international networks of judges,
academics, and practitioners from common law countries, with the support of
large law firms.

In conclusion, the civil justice system is not perfect and still needs to be
improved. A lot of reforms can be introduced to achieve this. All the problems of
the civil justice system have solutions which can be achieved.

Crucial Points which were missed:

⇒ Genn’s commentary on the civil system will extremely remain relevant.
(In the module guide)
⇒ Case law: R (on the applica on of C) v Secretary of State for Jus ce, R (on
the applica on of UNISON) v Lord Chancellor
⇒ Post providing for what the civil justice system entails, an essay should
also brie ly touch upon the broad differences between the civil and
the criminal justice system along with procedural limb.
⇒ reforms set forth by Lord Woolf. The interim report, inal report, CPR
Rules.
⇒ The inal limb of the question concerns reforms, reference should be
made to Lord Woolf, the CPR rules, and also the reforms suggested by
Lord Briggs. Lord Justice Jackson's review of civil litigation costs.
⇒ The conclusion should reiterate the points written before.

35/100
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