Top tip – Have a look at What you need to do after you start a civil claim to understand the different tracks a case might take.
While you are preparing for your hearing, you may also want to check out our explanation of how to write a witness statement (and template) and how to create a court bundle.
This guide is also for people supporting litigants in person, for example Support Through Court volunteers, Citizens Advice volunteers, housing support workers, advice workers and court staff, as well as relatives and friends.
We try to explain any legal language as we go along, but there is also a What does it mean? section at the end.
Please tell us about your problem. Knowing more about our users and what you found useful helps us get funding to keep our website going. We also want to hear if there is anything you didn’t like or couldn’t find so that we can be even more useful. It is OK to skip questions – but please press ‘submit’ at the end as otherwise we don’t get your response.
February 2024
A ‘hearing’ is the name given to any meeting that takes place with a judge, including the trial. The hearing might be face to face or by video or telephone call. The trial is the final hearing; the one when a judge decides who wins and who loses the case.
Hearings before the trial are usually shorter and less formal events than the trial. They are a bit like a business meeting. They can happen at any point in the case up until the trial. Most cases have none or very few of them. A small claim is unlikely to have any hearing before the trial.
The number of hearings that take place before the trial will partly depend on:
If your case is complex, or there are problems with the preparation, you may hear different hearings mentioned. The clue about what happens at each of these hearings is usually in the name. Here are some of them:
In the past, most hearings took place in person with everybody turning up at court to talk to the judge face to face. These days it is common for some types of hearing to take place by video or telephone call. These are known as 'remote hearings'. You can read more about how video and telephone hearings work in our guide Court and tribunal hearings by video and phone call.
Forms and rules Relevant rule: Practice Direction 23A - Applications Part 6 of this practice direction deals with hearings - where they will be held and how people will be told about them. |
The trial is the final hearing where a judge hears the evidence and makes a decision. But this only happens if you and the other side cannot can’t reach an agreement on how to sort out their dispute themselves before then.
People often think that the judge will run the hearing; that the judge will ask the other side questions, give them a hard time or unpick the evidence to get at the truth. This is not what happens. If it is your claim, you have to take the lead. Judges vary in how they start a trial. The judge may invite you to speak, or not. They may just expect you to stand up and start. If you are not sure what to do, just stand up and say something like, ‘Would you like me to start now?’ The court staff outside the court before the hearing starts will be able to tell you how to address the judge assigned to your case. If you don’t know the judge’s name or how senior they are, it is best to call a man ‘Sir’ and a woman ‘Ma’am’.
If the trial is taking place in a formal courtroom you sit in the front row. A member of court staff may look after you while you are waiting outside for the case, and show you where to sit when the case starts. You stand up when you want to speak and sit down when someone else speaks.Only one person should speak at any one time.
In a small claim, the hearing is likely to be more informal, probably in a judge’s room rather than a court room. You and the defendant may just be seated on opposite sides of a table. In this situation it is usual for everyone to stay seated when they speak. If in doubt, you can ask the judge.
If you do not turn up to the trial, perhaps because you are feeling very nervous, the trial will still go ahead, but it is highly likely that you will lose and have to pay the other side's costs as well as your own. If you are nervous, you will almost certainly be allowed to have a friend or family member accompany you for support. That person may provide moral support for you, take notes, and help you with your papers. But they cannot speak for you, unless given permission because of special circumstances, for example, because you are disabled in a way which makes it difficult for you to speak for yourself.
You may think that what you want to say on the day will just occur to you at the time. You cannot rely on this. You need to prepare. You need to think about what you are going to say; plan the questions you want to ask the witnesses and make notes to take with you into court. You also need to get your papers organised and be familiar with where everything is.
Preparation is also a way of focusing on what it is you have to prove and being ready to do that. You also need to understand those bits of the law that affect your case.
Plan how to start or open your case. It is just a few sentences said out loud by you summarising your claim, and what you intend to prove, before you explain what evidence you have got to support your claim. It should take no longer than one or two minutes to say.
In a small claim you may not be expected to make one at all. And in a small claim you will probably stay sitting as the court is more informal.
Who speaks when: the usual order
Sometimes it is not clear when each of these things should happen. If in doubt, you can always stand up and say something like ‘Would you like me to call my witness now?’ When someone else speaks, you sit down. When it is your turn to speak again, you stand up. |
‘Evidence in chief’ is the phrase used to mean the evidence your own witnesses will give on your behalf.
You might also hear the term ‘direct examination’ or ‘examination in chief’ which are phrases left over from the days when witnesses usually gave their evidence by answering questions.
Giving ‘evidence in chief’ is the process of asking your own witnesses questions so their evidence can be heard by the judge. Both the claimant and the defendant get a very limited chance to do this, as these days witness evidence in chief is mostly done just through written witness statements, rather than witnesses going into the witness box and you asking them questions.
If a witness does answer questions in the witness box, they cannot take anything into the witness box but themselves. They will be given a copy of the trial bundle (which will contain a copy of their statement and all relevant documents). They are expected to be familiar with their evidence and will be asked to confirm that it is theirs, and that they have read it.
Each witness will be asked to swear a religious oath on their chosen holy book or, if they are not religious, to make an affirmation to tell the truth. It is a serious offence to lie in court after swearing an oath or making an affirmation.
If you and your witness are happy with their written witness statement then you just need to ask them to confirm that the content is true. If there are any mistakes or problems with what one of your witnesses has said then it is your only opportunity to deal with this. Get the witness to explain, for example, what the mistake is and why it was made and what the correct position is. It is much better to get this out in the open as soon as possible rather than leave it to the other side to expose it and make it look as though you were hiding something.
The witness statement is treated as that witness’s full evidence. If you want the witness to expand on something in their statement, you will have to ask the judge for permission, and there will need to be a good reason. You will be allowed to ask the witness questions about something that has happened since the witness statements were exchanged. But if you have simply forgotten to include something relevant in the witness statement, then the judge is unlikely to allow you to make up for that at the trial.
Small claims: In a small claim the judge can decide on any way of managing the hearing that he or she considers fair. This might mean the judge decides to question the witnesses directly, before allowing anyone else to. The judge might also decide to limit cross-examination, or not allow it at all.
Top tips
|
Cross examination is the legal term used to describe the process of asking the other side's witnesses questions. The claimant, the defendant and any other witnesses must all expect to be cross-examined.
You need to think about:
Your aim is to bring out the facts that support your own case and weaken the other side's case. Your questions need to relate to liability; the value of your claim and the credibility of their witnesses or evidence.
You usually suggest that something happened differently or that it didn’t happen at all. You may be able to do this, for example, by comparing what the witness says with contrary evidence, for example, in a document or photograph.
You need to do some advance preparation by reading through the other side's witness statements carefully and picking out any problems with what they say. The kind of things you are looking for are points that undermine their case or support your own. Cross examination is your only chance to do this – so do not miss it. Resist the temptation to comment on what the other side's witnesses say in reply to your questions. Leave this for when you make your closing submission.
You also need to prepare yourself and your witnesses for cross examination by explaining the questions you think it is likely they will get asked. This does not mean you can tell them what to say – you cannot. They have to come up with their own answers. They need to be truthful and answer the questions they are asked and no more.
It is normal for the witness to be referred to specific sections of the trial bundle during cross-examination. If the person cross-examining does not do that, the witness can ask the judge's permission to look at the trial bundle to check a document. This is not a formal process, and so the witness can simply say ‘Please can I look at document X or Y in the bundle Sir / Ma'am?’
Top tipsCross examining others
Being cross-examined
|
Re-examination is the legal word used to describe the process of asking your own witnesses some more questions after they have been cross examined by the other side. The purpose is to give them a chance to explain things that came up when they were questioned by the other side to make sure that the judge is not left with the wrong impression about something. You are not allowed to use re-examination simply to ask things which did not come up in cross-examination but which you forgot to ask first time round.
You are also not allowed to ask your witness leading questions – that is questions posed in such a way that suggest the answer you want them to give.
And remember, unless you know that what your witness will say in answer to your question is going to improve the situation, it may be better to leave things as they are and ask no further questions.
Top tips
|
This is how you end your case. Both the claimant and the defendant get a chance to make a closing statement to the court. The defendant speaks first and the claimant last.
Usually, the closing submission happens straight after the last witness. If you do not feel ready to make a good job of your closing submission, do not be embarrassed to ask the judge for a little time to collect your thoughts.
However, you can work out most of what you want to say before the trial starts. You have some idea of what the evidence is going to be from the witness statements and documents that you have been sent. You also know what your strongest points are. But you will need to take into account what actually happens in the trial. So, you need to be adaptable and leave room for any changes you want to make on the day.
Focus on the particulars of claim (if you are the claimant) and the defence (if you are the defendant), the evidence given, and the legal arguments that support your case and why you think the judge should prefer your evidence more than the other side. Make sure you cover issues of credibility, liability and value. Highlight any inconsistencies in the other side evidence. You may want to summarise briefly how and why their evidence is less believable than your own and how you have proved your case.
Top tips
|
The judge decides who wins and who loses based on whose version of events they prefer and think more believable. The judge then makes an order about what happens as a result of their decision. This is called ‘giving judgment’. The judgment will say who has won and if you won, how much you have been awarded in compensation and interest.
The court will send both sides a copy of the court order in the post.
Once the judge has made their decision, they will deal with the issue of costs, and you need to be prepared to deal with that, whether you have won or lost.
Transcript
If you want a transcript of the judgment, that is the judge's full explanation of why they reached their decision in the case, then you can apply for one by filling out a form and emailing or posting to the court office and paying a fee (unless you are fee exempt).
As soon as the judge has made their decision and if you have won, you should stand up and say ‘Please can I have my costs’. You need to be assertive and not lose the opportunity to get paid for the time you have spent on your case.
You must get an order for costs to allow the court to assess them. For further information about costs and costs assessment see Legal costs and who pays them.
Even if you win, you may have problems getting your hands on what the court awards you. If the other side does not pay or does not do what the court orders, then there are things you can do to make this happen. This process is called ‘enforcement’. There are lots of different methods of forcing the other side to obey the court’s order. But the court does not enforce their order for you, unless you ask. You have to pay the costs involved in enforcement. You may not get this money back.
You can find out more about enforcement in this court leaflet What to do if a defendant doesn't pay money after judgement (EX321). This same link also takes you to Welsh language and large print versions.
Rules Relevant guidance- Practice direction 70 - Enforcement of judgments and orders |
You can find the short film When you arrive for your county court hearing on the Ministry of Justice You Tube channel.
It gives you an idea of what to expect when you arrive at court for your hearing.
If English is not your first language or if you are deaf or hard of hearing, you may need an interpreter so that you can take part in the court proceedings. You may be able to get an interpreter for free.
Sometimes the courts will allow you to take a friend or relative to help you to explain what you want to say. If the court will not allow this, it is still a good idea to take a friend to support you and to talk to court staff on your behalf before and after the hearing.
Top tips when representing yourself
|
Affirmation – when you swear to tell the truth before giving evidence.
Evidence in chief - means the evidence your own witnesses will give on your behalf, either in a written witness statement, or in the witness box. You may also hear this called ‘direct examination’ or ‘examination in chief’.
Directions hearing - a hearing where the judge gives instructions about what needs to be done to get the case ready for trial.
Case management conference – a hearing to talk about how to run the case.
Cross examination - the process of asking the other side's witnesses questions.
Housing disrepair case – a type of legal case where you take your landlord to court for failing to repair a problem in your rented property.
Leading questions – questions asked in such a way that suggest the answer you want them to give.
Liability - state of being legally responsible for something. In civil cases you need to prove that the problem is legally the defendant’s fault.
Listing hearing – a hearing to discuss when to put a case in the list of cases to be heard by a judge.
Particulars of claim - a detailed written statement setting out the facts and law on which your claim is based and what you want from the defendant.
Oath – a promise or affirmation made by a witness in court before giving evidence, that they will tell the truth.
Opening submission – a few sentences spoken out loud summarising your claim, and what you intend to prove.
Other side – an informal way of talking about your opponent in a legal dispute that ends up in court. You may also hear the more formal ‘other party’.
Practice direction – an extra bit of guidance that goes with a court rule.
Re-examination - the process of asking your own witnesses some more questions after they have been questioned by the other side.
Tracks – routes through the civil justice system that the court decides your case should take. This guide covers the small claims track and the fast track.
Trial - the final hearing - the one when a judge decides who wins and who loses the case.
Trial bundle – a collection of the documents relevant to your civil claim organised in the way you and the other side and the judge will use them at the trial.
Value – how much your claim is worth. You may also hear the legal word ‘quantum’.
Witness statement - a document in which someone explains what they saw, did or heard.
The information in this guide applies to England and Wales only. The law may be different if you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland. The law is complicated. We have simplified things in this guide. Please don’t rely on this guide as a complete statement of the law. We recommend you try and get advice from the sources we have suggested.
The cases we refer to are not always real but show a typical situation. We have included them to help you think about how to deal with your own situation.
This guide was produced by Law for Life's Advicenow project with additional material from Laura Bee. Thanks also to Laura Bee who peer reviewed it.Thanks to the Bar Standards Board for funding the creation of this guide.
Thomson Reuters who kindly peer reviewed this updated version.This guide was updated thanks to funding from the Ministry of Justice.
February 2024
