The main purpose of most litigation is to secure a remedy or relief. That is the reason why the claimant starts the action, and it should be the focus of many decisions relating to the case. From the first contact with the client, lawyers must be clear about what the client really wants to achieve, and decisions about causes of action, evidence, and interim applications should focus on the remedies and relief being pursued. This chapter discusses the remedies a court can and cannot order; claims for damages; quantification of damages; and claims for interest on top of claims for the payment of a sum of money or damages. The final section covers the importance of taking a proactive approach to claiming and quantifying damages.
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This chapter focuses on the pre-action stage of the litigation process. Most civil disputes are settled prior to the issue of any proceedings. Save where a pre-issue application is appropriate, no court will be involved. Nonetheless the approach taken to resolving the dispute will be shaped to a significant extent by the view a court might take if proceedings were to be issued. The chapter discusses the Practice Direction Pre-Action Conduct, which seeks to enable parties to settle disputes without the need to start proceedings, and to support the efficient management by the; pre-action protocols, which set out the steps that the parties should follow before issuing proceedings; steps in preparing a case; forming the relationship with the other side; deciding when to issue proceedings; and portal claims.
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This chapter considers Protocol practice in general, the aims of Protocol, the basic content of all Protocols, and the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct (PDPAC). It looks at the consequences of non-compliance with Protocol or the PDPAC. It discusses the occasions on which it may be appropriate to issue proceedings without complying with Protocol practice, and some pre-action applications that may be made under the Civil Procedure Rules. It also provides a more detailed look at two Pre-Action Protocols—the Personal Injury Protocol and the Construction and Engineering Protocol.
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Herwig C.H. Hofmann
This chapter examines the steps which take place after legislation has been passed. It also looks at the principles and rules that exist to ensure the legality and legitimacy of administrative action implementing EU law. It begins with an overview of the key institutions and agencies of the EU and what they do. It then discusses the applicable law which is key to developing notions of accountability and the protection of rights in this field.
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The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offer the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, bullet-pointed answer plans and suggested answers, author commentary, and illustrative diagrams and flowcharts. This chapter deals with questions on the range of actions or types of procedure provided for under the TFEU (ex-European Community (EC) Treaty). These are the actions under Arts 258–60, 263, 265, 267, 268, 277, and 340 TFEU. The questions range from a straightforward consideration on the procedure of each action to the difficulties for applicants in these actions: the setting of difficult problem questions on the procedural aspects to questions requiring a consideration of more than one action. The chapter concludes with a general question on the overall range and effectiveness of remedies for individuals in the EU legal order. A mixture of essay and problem-type questions is provided.
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This chapter provides an overview of the main stages of the litigation process. It first describes the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 and the accompanying Practice Directions, which provide a basis for civil litigation, as well as the adversarial approach and the right to a fair trial. It then explains the various stages of the litigation process, beginning with the pre-action stage, which involves gathering appropriate information, evaluating the case, taking key decisions about framing the case, and building a working relationship with the other side. This is followed by discussions on starting an action; statements of case (i.e. defining the parties, the issues between the parties, and remedies sought); interim stages and case management; options for interrupting or ending litigation; preparations for trial; trial and judgment; and cases with an international element.
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Mark Elliott and Jason Varuhas
This chapter examines the status of unlawful administrative action, and more specifically whether unlawful administrative action is void or voidable. It first considers the practical and theoretical arguments that address the ‘void or voidable’ question by focusing on the case of Boddington v. British Transport Police [1999] 2 AC 143, along with four post-Boddington decisions. It then discusses the nature of voidness, with particular emphasis on the presumption of validity and the principle of legal relativity. It also explores the divergent theoretical perspectives upon administrative law that underpin the different approaches that writers adopt to the status of unlawful administrative acts. Finally, it looks at voidness in relation to collateral challenge and suggests that the disagreements regarding the status of unlawful administrative action, at least to some extent, pertain not to what constitutes a desirable outcome but to the form of judicial reasoning that prefigures the reaching of the outcome.
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D Fox, RJC Munday, B Soyer, AM Tettenborn, and PG Turner
This chapter deals with the general law of assignment of choses in action. Beginning with the historically based difference between equitable and statutory assignment, it then explains what ‘chose in action’ and ‘assignment’ are before discussing the requirement that there be an existing and assignable chose in action or right as well as the requirement that a person who holds an existing assignable chose in action intends to assign it. It also examines whether and when a rule of legal formality requires writing to be made; whether and when notice of the assignment is required; and obstacles to the enforcement of an assigned chose in action.
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Herwig CH Hofmann
General principles of EU law are principles which govern all legal acts of the EU and those of Member States when acting in the scope of EU law. They have become particularly important in terms of administrative implementation of EU law by Union institutions and bodies as well as by Member States. This chapter addresses some of the most important of these principles concerning procedure and substance of implementation of EU law within a multi-level system. The principles discussed in this chapter include proportionality, the rule of law, good administration, information rights and the conditions necessary to ensure the right to an effective remedy. Each comes with examples.
