The time for a case to get to court can vary

The time taken for a case to come to court

This part of the article tempts providence because unusual circumstances can occasionally lead to unusual delays that are outside the time frames set out here. Nevertheless, it is useful to know the minimum and maximum periods likely to be encountered in normal circumstances. First of all, though, it should be remembered that most claims are not defended. The claimant can, if payment has not been received, apply for judgment by default 14 days after the deemed date of service or 28 days after the deemed date of service if the defendant has returned an Acknowledgment of Service.

The period from service of the claim to allocation to one of the three tracks should be the same, regardless of which track is selected. The stages are:

Defendant files a defence: 3 days to 28 days
Court sends out allocation questionnaires: 4 days
The parties return the allocation questionnaires, possibly after a reminder from the court: 4 days to 21 days
Either party may request a one month stay to try and reach a settlement (a possible extension of the stay is discounted): 0 to 31 days
Court allocates the case to a track: 5 to 14 days.

This gives a period to allocation of between 16 days and 98 days. However a period of close to 16 days would be very unusual and there must be quite a bit of feet dragging to get it to 98 days. Of course, a few defendants are champion feet draggers.

A case in the small claims track is likely to be given a date up to about eight weeks after allocation. So adding 56 days, we get extremes of 72 days and 154 days. Of course most cases are heard around the middle of this range. A case in the fast track is likely to be heard up to about 30 weeks after allocation. So adding 210 days we get extremes of 226 days and 308 days. Again somewhere in the middle is likely.

There is a considerable range of possibilities for a case in the multi-track but the period to trial is likely to be longer than for a case in the fast track.

An appeal

A fee is payable and the time within which an appeal can be made is limited. The appellant's notice must be filed within the time limits set by the judge whose order is being appealed against, or if the judge has set no time limit, it must be filed within 14 days of the decision which is the subject of the appeal.

In most cases it is necessary to obtain permission to appeal and this will only be given if it is believed that there is a real prospect of the appeal succeeding. A feeling that the judge got it wrong is a good start but will not by itself be enough. It must be shown that a decision was wrong or unjust because of a serious procedural or other irregularity. Where the appeal is against a case management decision the court will also consider:

whether the issue is significant enough to justify the costs of an appeal;
the overall effect on the case management timetable, eg whether the loss of the trial date is more significant than the procedural point you wish to appeal; and
whether it would be more convenient to deal with your point at the trial.

An application for permission to appeal and the appeal itself are both done by means of Form N161 which is called 'Appellant's Notice'. Appeals will be heard as follows:

an appeal against a decision made by a District Judge in a county court claim or case will be dealt with by a Circuit Judge;
an appeal against a decision made by a Master or District Judge in a High Court claim or case will be dealt with by a High Court Judge;
an appeal against a decision made by a Circuit Judge, Master or District Judge that is a final decision in a claim allocated to the multitrack will be dealt with by the Lord Justices of Appeal;
an appeal against a decision made by a Circuit Judge in a county court matter, other than a final decision in a multi-track claim will be dealt with by a High Court Judge;
an appeal against a decision made by a High Court Judge will be dealt with by the Lord Justices of Appeal.

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