1. Satvir Daroch

2. ◦ Based in London but has judges sitting in 26
towns and cities in England and Wales
◦ It has the power to hear any civil cases in one of
its divisions.
◦ Queens bench division, Chancery division and the
Family division.

3. ◦ Queen’s Bench Division
◦ President of QBD is Lord Chief Justice, around 70
in this division.
◦ Contract and Tort Cases over £50,000 but claims
lower can be considered.
◦ Cases are normally tried by single judge and a
jury of 12 can be used for cases of
fraud, libel, slander, malicious prosecution.
◦ Cases here are expensive and can take some
time. Average waiting time of three years.

4. ◦ Chancery Division
◦ Head of this division is the Chancellor of the High
Court and there are around 17 of them.
◦ Mainly deal with matters of
insolvency, enforcement of mortgages, disputes
relating to trust property.
◦ Contains a special companies court which deals
with winding up companies.
◦ Juries never used here, single judge instead.
◦ Criticised for being costly and often slow.

5.  Family Division
◦ 17 High Court Judges here and their head is the
President.
◦ Hears cases relating to children under the
Children Act 1989.
◦ Cases heard by a single judge and jury no longer
used.

6. ◦ Dated 26th april 1999, these rules are bought into
effect.
◦ Rules changed many things to simplify
proceedings and make court accessible.
◦ E.g. “claimant” and not “plaintiff” or “claim form”
and not “writ”
 RULE 1.1 – aim is to ensure courts deal with
case justly.

7.  aim is to ensure courts deal with case justly.
 judges must;
 Ensure parties are on equal fooling
 Save expenses
 Deal with cases proportionately i.e. amount of
cost and gain for claimant
 Ensure cases dealt with quickly and fairly.
 Allocate the right amount of the courts
resources.

8.  Judges must;
 Identify issues early in the case.
 Encourage the parties to use an alternative to
court.
 Deal with procedural steps without the
parties having to come to court
 Give directions so that a case proceeds
quickly and effectively.