A few questions on going to court

[john10001]

What is the maximum amount you can sue for in small claims court? How often is it increased? Has it been increased recently?

What is next up from small claims court and are there additional fees for a court above?

What is a reasonable sum of compensation for discrimination based on religion and disability?

How do you determine what is a reasonable sum of compensation? Can it be left up to the court, the judge, or a jury to determine? Or is it best to specify an amount or research any similar cases from the past and the amounts they were awarded?

How soon after a dispute should a claim be made? Is there a time limit because some things could take a lot longer to gather evidence? Is there some sort of statutory limit? If it is an ongoing issue over many years will the courts allow a case to proceed based on the date of the last instance or if the first instance is before a statutory cut off would they still not allow it to go forward? Can there be mitigating circumstances where they would allow a case to proceed that is "aged" for example a global pandemic for two years?

What kind of cases would you say you needed to hire a solicitor to represent you and which ones would you be fine or better to represent yourself? Are there any circumstances where you should always have a solicitor represent you or where you should always represent yourself? E.g. should all small claims be self-represented and anything higher always be with a solicitor?

Finally, I wondered what kind of cases usually have a jury and which ones only have a judge? Can you select to have a jury in certain courts and are there times when it is better to have one or the other in terms of judge or jury?

[Clitheroekid]

What is the maximum amount you can sue for in small claims court? How often is it increased? Has it been increased recently?

If the claim is for less than £10k it would normally be allocated to the small claims court (technically the small claims `track').

What is next up from small claims court and are there additional fees for a court above?

The small claims court is just part of the County Court. Claims over £10k would normally be allocated to the `fast track' (a misnomer if ever there was one!) Cases worth more than £25k go to the `multi-track'.

The Court fee to issue a claim is based on the value of the claim. Although it varies at the bottom end if you work on 5% of the value it's near enough.

What is a reasonable sum of compensation for discrimination based on religion and disability?

Impossible to say, as it depends on the case. There was an award last year of over £2.5m - https://www.keystonelaw.com/keynotes/ov ... hat-normal

How do you determine what is a reasonable sum of compensation? Can it be left up to the court, the judge, or a jury to determine? Or is it best to specify an amount or research any similar cases from the past and the amounts they were awarded?

Juries don't try discrimination claims. They would all be decided by a judge

How soon after a dispute should a claim be made? Is there a time limit because some things could take a lot longer to gather evidence? Is there some sort of statutory limit? If it is an ongoing issue over many years will the courts allow a case to proceed based on the date of the last instance or if the first instance is before a statutory cut off would they still not allow it to go forward? Can there be mitigating circumstances where they would allow a case to proceed that is "aged" for example a global pandemic for two years?

Too many questions! The starting point for the time limit is just 3 months, but there are exceptions - https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/ ... l%20differ.

What kind of cases would you say you needed to hire a solicitor to represent you and which ones would you be fine or better to represent yourself? Are there any circumstances where you should always have a solicitor represent you or where you should always represent yourself? E.g. should all small claims be self-represented and anything higher always be with a solicitor?

Discrimination claims are legally complex, and a specialist area of law. Unless you're willing and able to spend a long time becoming an expert you would always be better hiring a specialist solicitor. If the claim is viable they will usually work on a contingency fee basis, e,g, 25% of whatever you recover.

Finally, I wondered what kind of cases usually have a jury and which ones only have a judge? Can you select to have a jury in certain courts and are there times when it is better to have one or the other in terms of judge or jury?

There are hardly any civil trials where it's possible to have a trial by jury, and they certainly don't hear discrimination claims.

[Lootman]

Finally, I wondered what kind of cases usually have a jury and which ones only have a judge? Can you select to have a jury in certain courts and are there times when it is better to have one or the other in terms of judge or jury?

In the US either side of a civil case can elect to have a jury trial and then that is binding on both sides. The side choosing a jury (usually the plaintiff) has to pay the jury fees.

In the UK I do not believe it is possible, which I think is a great shame.

[DrFfybes]

What is the maximum amount you can sue for in small claims court? How often is it increased? Has it been increased recently?

What is next up from small claims court and are there additional fees for a court above?

What is a reasonable sum of compensation for discrimination based on religion and disability?

I always thought Small Claims was only for quantifiable 'out of pocket' losses or provable amounts (eg an unpaid debt or refund of cost of faulty goods), which 'discrimination' is unlikely to fall under as compensation isn't a fixed figure. Unless you can show the discrimination cost you a certain figure.

Paul

[Clitheroekid]

I always thought Small Claims was only for quantifiable 'out of pocket' losses or provable amounts (eg an unpaid debt or refund of cost of faulty goods), which 'discrimination' is unlikely to fall under as compensation isn't a fixed figure. Unless you can show the discrimination cost you a certain figure.

No, it's mainly the value of the claim that determines whether it will be allocated to the small claims track, though it may be taken out if it involves complex legal points or the need for a lot of expert evidence. But there are many small claims cases that involve arguments about breach of contract, nuisance, negligence, trespass etc.

You can more or less ensure that your claim is allocated to small claims by limiting its value on the Claim Form to £10k.