Principles of Civil Justice (LAWS0247)

This module provides a detailed study of the fundamental principles that underpin the structure and operation of the civil justice system.

An effective civil justice system is the means by which substantive legal rights are elaborated, vindicated and enforced. Over the last twenty years such systems have been subject to significant reform across the world; reform that has attempted to ensure that they are more effective and efficient.

Module Content

This module provides a detailed study of the fundamental principles that underpin the structure and operation of civil justice systems. As such it critically examines principles of due process, for instance, the right to be heard, to equality of arms, to open justice common, common to all civil justice systems and contemporary challenges to them. 

It provides an in-depth analysis of overarching theories of procedural justice and recent reforms that have seen the introduction, in differing forms, of a new theory of procedural justice based on proportionality. 

It then focuses on the procedural principles and contemporary discussions concerning specific procedural processes, and challenges for and developments in civil justice. It particularly looks at the effect that digitisation has on civil justice and the development of online courts. 

The module approaches the subject primarily through an examination of the English and Welsh civil justice system, and the manner in which principle has shaped it and been the subject of reform. 

It does so however through a consideration of comparative study, particularly taking account of the ALI/UNIDROIT Principles, ELI/UNIDROIT model European Rules of Civil Procedure, common law jurisprudence from, for instance, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America.

Structure

The module is divided into four substantive parts. The first part provides students with an in-depth analysis of general, theoretical principles of procedural justice.  

Differing conceptions of the civil justice system’s aim are considered: first, the commitment to securing justice on the merits, which has, historically, been the predominant organising principle of civil justice; and secondly, the turn towards Bentham-inspired proportionality as a fundamental procedural principle, and its different meanings across different jurisdictions. 

The second part of the module examines the role and underpinnings of discrete aspects of the civil justice process. Case management, evidence-gathering techniques, expert evidence and privileges against the submission of evidence are considered. Managing mass claims (class actions) is also explored as is the approach to finality of litigation and appellate procedure. 

Part three focuses on the role and impact of litigation costs both in terms of the operation of the civil justice system and procedural reform. It also examines recent reforms in litigation funding: the development of contingency and third party funding and its role in what has been said to be the privatisation of civil justice. 

The fourth part of the module examines the future of civil justice. Its main focus is on the impact that digitisation is having on the civil justice; the growth of digital courts and the development of so-called integrated dispute resolution through the work of Susskind and Hodges.

Recommended Materials

• Adrian Zuckerman, Zuckerman on Civil Procedure: Principles of Practice (2021)  

• John Sorabji, English Civil Justice after Woolf and Jackson (2014) 

• ELI-UNIDROIT Model European Rules of Civil Procedure (2021) 

• Richard Susskind, Open Courts and the Future of Justice (2020) 

Module reading lists and other module materials will be provided via online module pages, available at the beginning of term once students have enrolled. 

Key Information