The county courts require claims to be commenced by the claimant via the service of a claim form, setting out the basis for the claim and the remedy sought.
The other party, the defendant must serve an acknowledgement of service within 14 days of the claim form being served. Then within 28 days from service of the particulars of claim the defendant must serve a defence in which they set out their grounds.
The courts play an active part in the management of the case and will give directions to bring the case to trial as efficiently as possible. Rules of procedure require the parties to disclose the existence of relevant documents to each other and/or to allow inspection of such documents.
A trial of the case will be held in public before a judge sitting without a jury. Each party will make an opening statement normally via their legal representative. They will then call witnesses who will each give their evidence and be cross examined by the other party. Each party will then make their closing submissions and the judge may then again give a decision at the end of the trial or reserve it to be handed down later.
The courts may award damages and can also grant injunctions and other declarations. In the High Court, the party who loses the case normally has to pay the costs of the party who wins. If the parties cannot agree the figure for costs, these are normally assessed in line with a structured formula.