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This guide is a consolidated version of a series of posts published on the Landlord-Law blog.

Part 1 : Introduction

This introduces the series, sounds a few warning notes, and outlines the sort of hearings this series will be looking at. Which is mostly small claims, not big complex cases where most people will be using solicitors.

Part 2 : Preparation

Preparation is crucial if you want to win your case. This part looks at what you need to do.

Part 3 : Before the hearing

What do you do when you arrive at court? This part will help stop you panicking and suggests ways you can best use what can be a long time in the court waiting room.

Part 4 : Interim hearings and applications

People don’t always think of these when considering hearings, but they can often be crucial to your case.

Part 5 : Trials

The big one. A long part with lots of guidance on how to present your case properly.

Part 6 : Judgment and costs

The moment of truth when you find out whether it has all been worth while. This part looks at what happens, and the things that will need to be dealt with once judgment is given.

Part 7 : After the hearing

Looking at issues which may arises such as what to do if you missed the hearing or want to appeal.

Part 1: Introduction

Courts are scary places. Or so many people think. Often they take place in old Victorian buildings with intimidating atmospheres. There are people walking around wearing medieval robes. And you are petrified because you don’t know what to do and have never spoken in public before.

This short series is an attempt to prepare you for the ordeal, and hopefully take away some of the fear, so you will feel more willing to give it a go.

Be careful

Although the series is specifically about court hearings, perhaps I should start by striking a few cautionary notes about court cases generally. You need to bear in mind always the following

• Courts are very busy places with limited resources (which in the current financial crisis is unlikely to change),
• Judges are generally not pleased if they think that people have been wasting their time
• So, you should never start a court claim on a whim – it is a serious business and an inappropriate claim could end up costing you a lot of money, and
• Don’t forget that in many cases the court can (and will) order the losing party to pay the winning parties costs

You have been warned! However, that said, if you do have a good case, and your opponent is being unreasonable about things – you may have no alternative but to go to court. Or you may be the defendant in a claim where you think you are in the right.

If you are really careful with your paperwork, prepare properly, and then at the hearing follow the guidance in this series, it should be your opponent who feels the Judges ire and who ends up out of pocket, not you.

The types of hearing this series is about

This series is aimed at people acting in person and will therefore be relevant for the sort of hearings where people acting in person generally appear. These will include:

• hearings for directions – these are short hearings where the Judge decides what procedural things need to be done before the case can be listed for trial/full hearing
• applications before or after trial – these are generally to do with procedural matters relating to the case
• small claims trials – small claims is the name given for the special procedure used for claims with a value of less than £5,000, and
• hearings for possession – initial hearing dates only

Other cases

However for more complex cases, for example claims for over £5,000, claims where you or your opponent are asking for something like an injunction, defended possession claims, or cases involving complex areas of law, you should *always* take professional legal advice, and if possible arrange to be represented at court.

If you are short of funds:

• Check your insurance policies – you may find that you are covered for legal help
• Speak to local solicitors about costs – many firms will offer no win no fee agreements, or
• See if your solicitor will agree to give you some free advice and perhaps some further guidance on a fixed fee basis, or
• Speak to local charities such as the Citizens Advice Bureau or Shelter – they can often help. For discrimination cases contact the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Cases without hearings

I should perhaps end by saying that in many cases, there will be no hearing. The ‘accelerated procedure’ for possession for example, is a special type of procedure where the Judge decides the case on the paperwork alone. And in the vast majority of claims for a CCJ, the defendant will not file any defence and the claimant will be able to enter judgement ‘in default’.

However you can never count on this, and even in accelerated possession claims there will be hearings occasionally.

Part 2: Preparation

In all court hearings, preparation is key. Do not assume that you will be able to ‘wing it’. You won’t. Or if you do, you will be very lucky. Don’t chance it. Prepare meticulously.

1. Directions.

In many cases there will have been a preliminary hearing where the Judge will have ordered you to comply with ‘directions’ for the case. Or you may just have been sent a court order setting out directions. These will be things like serving witness statements and documents on your opponent.

It is very important that you do this. Don’t think that is is ‘clever’ to a ambush the other side with a document they have never seen before. All that will happen is that you will seriously annoy the Judge and you may not be allowed to use it.

If the directions included filing and serving the type of document known by lawyers as a ‘pleading’, for example the statement of claim, defence, counterclaim etc, then you MUST get this done within the time limits given. If you don’t, at best you risk being ordered to pay costs to the other side, at worst you may lose the case.

2. Documents.

Make sure that all documents relevant to the case, or to your hearing if this is not a trial hearing, have been disclosed to the other side, and that you have adequate copies with you.

You may also want to prepare some documents to help the court at your hearing. For example, chronologies, schedules of payments due, and the like. Anything that is helpful and will save time, will give you added brownie points. Judges are very hot on saving time.

3. Witnesses.

If there are any witnesses, other than yourself, you must make sure that they will be able to attend the hearing. If you have served a witness statement, don’t assume that this means that the witness does not need to attend the hearing – it doesn’t. They will need to be there to confirm their witness statement on oath and be cross examined on it.

If you think that there is any danger that your witness may not be able to attend, for example if their employer is unhappy about their taking a day off work, arrange to serve a witness summons on them. The court staff will tell you how to do this (or there is some guidance here and the court rules are here).

4. Bundle of documents

For large complex hearings, much of solicitors time is taken up in preparing bundles of documents for court hearings. Even for a small claims trial it is important to have one, and the Judge will thank you. If possible, see if you can try to agree what goes in it with your opponent, but if this is impossible, do a bundle anyway. This should:

• Have a front sheet with the case heading with parties names and case number, and the date of the hearing
• An index of the documents (for a small bundle this can go on the front sheet) giving the page numbers so they can be found easily during the hearing
• Have all documents in chronological order
• Contain all documents relevant to the case, including the court paperwork such as ‘pleadings’ and court orders
• Have every page clearly numbered

You will need to have at least four copies – one for the Judge, one for you, one for your opponent, and one for any witnesses

Note that bundles are mostly used for trials, so you won’t normally need one for other types of hearing (such as ‘directions’ hearings and the like). Also, where all relevant documents have already been attached to the court paperwork (as is often the case in possession hearings, particularly claims against squatters) a bundle will generally be unnecessary.

5. Your presentation at court

Once you have all your paperwork sorted, you need to plan out what you are going to say at the hearing. Don’t write it out in a speech though, do lists of points you want to make, so you won’t forget anything. Perhaps put them on cards. Have a spare copy of the bundle and highlight important points you will want to refer to. Make it easy to find them in the bundle by using yellow stickers.

I discuss in some detail the way you should present your case, and the things you will need to prove to the Judge, in part 5 of this series, so you will need to read that carefully also, when doing your preparation.

Make sure you have pen and paper with you. You will need quite a lot of paper to make notes (lawyers use a special type of notebook called a ‘Counsels Notebook‘), and make sure that you have several pens, just in case they run out of ink at the crucial moment (which they will do if you only have one).

Making notes of everything that is said at the hearing is crucial, so if you find writing hard, you may want to consider taking someone with you just to take notes. For example if you have a secretary who does shorthand, take her along. You may need to ask permission to take her in with you, but the Judge should not object to your having someone there to keep notes.

Part 3: Before the hearing

Arrive on time for your hearing

It is very important that you arrive promptly. Your case will have been listed for a particular time. If you are attending a trial, this may be the only case the Judge has to deal with that afternoon, so you will hold everyone up, and annoy the Judge (not a good start) if you are late.

If your case is in a list with several others, you risk it being called on and dealt with before you arrive, if you are late. Therefore make sure you have your mobile phone with you, so if you are held up in traffic, you can ring the court and warn them (make sure you have the telephone number with you on the day).

Once you arrive at your destination, make sure, if you are driving, that you put enough money in the parking meter. Although you should never be late, often cases are not called on until half or even an hour or more after their allocated time. Murphys law says that your case will either be called on before you arrive (if you are late) or when you have gone out to put more money in the meter.

On arrival

You should find a notice board near the entrance somewhere which has a list of all the cases due to be heard that day. You will need to find your case in the list to learn which room your case will be heard in.

The next thing to do (or possibly the first thing if you can’t find the notice board) is to find the relevant Usher and tell him (or her) you are there. This is very important. The Usher (there is generally one per courtroom or group of courtrooms) keeps a list of the cases and persons who are attending, and will, once he knows you are there, make sure you are called when the case comes on.

Don’t worry if you don’t find the Usher immediately. They may be in the Judge’s room. They will appear at some stage. Don’t be afraid to ask them anything – it is their job to help you. They are generally very nice.

Your opponent

Sometimes your opponent will be at court, other times they will not turn up. For example in many possession claims the tenants do not attend. However if your opponent is there, the Judge will expect you to have a word with them to see if anything can be agreed.

Many parties just sit in the court waiting room for half an hour or more, pretending the other is not there, and studiously avoiding making eye contact. If you are on really bad terms, this may be the best option (punch ups at court are not recommended). However the Judge will thank you if you can work out what is in issue and what is agreed, as this will cut down on the time the case will take. For example:

• If the claim is for possession based on rent arrears, can the rent arrears schedule be agreed?
• If not, why not? Is there a disputed payment for example? Which one is it?
• If the claim involves a list of different items, can any of these be agreed?
• If an item is in dispute, what is the thing in issue? For example in a claim for £90 for a replacement carpet, is it the figure of £90 which is in dispute, or the fact that the carpet needed to be replaced at all, or the defendants liability to pay for it?
• In a possession case, is the tenant defending because he thinks that the landlord is not entitled to possession, or because he has no-where else to live and is just asking for more time?

If your opponent is legally represented, you should talk with the legal representative rather than your opponent himself. This can be helpful, particularly if you are on bad terms. If you are a defendant in a mortgage repossession case, you will often find the solicitor representing the mortgage company to be very sympathetic and helpful.

If you do not want to discuss private matters in the waiting room, note that many courts have small meeting rooms available which you can use. Have a word with the Usher about it.

Housing advice:

If you are a tenant in a possession claim, some courts will have a repossession advice service with housing advisers available in the court on the day the possession hearings are listed. They will often be able to help you, and can usually attend the court hearing with you and speak on your behalf. Not all courts have this service however, so don’t count on it. Also if you have any defence to your landlords claim, you should really have obtained legal advice long before the court hearing.

Part 4: Interim hearings and applications

Not all court hearings are trials

There are two main types of court hearing. The first is the main hearing or trial which decides the case. I will be looking at those next week.

However today I am going to be looking at all the other, smaller, hearings that happen at court. These are generally to do with preparing for the trial, or are dealing with how the decision should be implemented.

Hearings leading up to the trial are often known (to lawyers) as interlocutory hearings. In large complex cases, these can be long and complex, and the decisions made can be very significant (for example see this report of a hearing in the Foxtons litigation).

Types of hearing

However in the type of case we are looking at, they will generally be fairly simple. Sometimes they will be as a result of an application by one of the parties. For example :

• if one of the parties wants to amend their claim, or
• add another defendant, or
• apply for more time to comply with a court order, or
• seek an adjournment of a hearing.

Other hearings may come about because they are ordered by the Judge. For example if he considers it necessary to have a directions hearing, rather than just making an order for the directions he thinks necessary.

Then after judgement has been given, it may be necessary to have further hearings – for example

• if a tenant who is being evicted applies to the court for more time in the property before the bailiffs can evict (known as an application for a stay of execution), or
• a hearing connected to enforcement proceedings such as an attachment of earnings order or third party debt order, or
• if the defendant applies to have judgement set aside, perhaps because he never received the paperwork

Where solicitors are acting, these sorts of hearings are often agreed in advance, and the parties will write to the court asking for the agreed order to be made in their absence. This saves everyone’s time.

However if you do not have an agreed order, and assuming you have views as to the sort of decision you want the Judge to make, it is important to attend these hearings.

In the Judge’s room

Hearings will generally take place in the Judge’s room (known as hearings ‘in chambers’) and are not open to the public. The room will generally have a table where the parties sit facing each other, and the Judge sits at a table going across the top like a T.

The Judges who take these hearings are usually District Judges, which is the lowest rung of the judiciary. If the Judge is a man you call him ‘Sir’ (not Your Honour) and if it is a woman, you call her ‘Ma’am’ (see here for further guidance on addressing Judges).

If it is your application, the Judge will normally ask you to speak first, and explain the application. Sometimes though, if the reason for the application is very clear from the paperwork, and everyone knows what it is all about, he may just ask you questions about it.

However the Judges runs the hearing though, make sure you explain everything carefully and say everything necessary in support of your application. Don’t expect the Judge to be all knowing or a mind reader – if he has not had time to read the papers he will need you to explain things to him.

Once you have finished, if the application is defended (although sometimes you may find that you are the only person at the hearing, which should make things easier for you), your opponent (or this might be you if you are the one opposing) will explain why he thinks the application should not succeed.

If, while the other party is speaking, you want to object to anything, or think of something you want to add, don’t interrupt. You will only annoy the Judge. Write down the point so you don’t forget it, and wait for him to finish.

Generally the Judge will want everyone to have an opportunity to say their piece. However, sometimes you may find that the Judge cuts you off, and allows your opponent to speak at length. If this happens, don’t get annoyed, it generally means that you have won, and the Judge is allowing the other side to say what they want so they cannot complain later that the Judge didn’t listen to them!

Mind you, I have heard clients say otherwise and complain that the Judge would not let them speak and found against them, so best to make sure you say all that you think is necessary in support of your case.

Possession hearings

Possession hearings are a special sort of hearing. You will generally (if you are the landlord) expect to get a possession order at the initial hearing, and in most cases this is what will happen. However your hearing will be in a long list with a lot of others and generally allotted about 5-10 minutes.

So if there is any dispute which is going to take some time to resolve, the Judge will adjourn the hearing to another day, and make directions. This should be avoided if at all possible, as generally the court will not be able to list the case for hearing for several months (whatever the Judge tells you in the hearing), and the case will probably become a lot more complex and time consuming (and expensive to run).

This is why you should only issue proceedings (again if you are a landlord) in circumstances where the order is virtually certain to be made at the initial hearing (using my do it yourself kits will help here).

Part 5: Trials

This is the type of hearing which everyone worries about. But if you are calm and careful about it, they can be fine. The first thing to do, is forget about court hearings you have seen in TV drama’s! Real life hearings are nothing like them. For a start they are far more boring …

We are really talking in this section about small claims hearings, so I will concentrate on these. Please read part 4 of this series on interim hearings and applications, as much of the information there, eg regarding the venue and what you call the Judge, will be relevant here too.

Most small claims hearings will be heard in the Judges room, and will only take place in a court room if there are no Judges rooms available (which is unlikely). It is also unlikley that they will be heard by anyone other than a District Judge. Note that if this is not the case, or if there is anything you are unsure about, ask the Usher. That is what they are there for.

In a small claims trial, the strict rules of evidence and procedure do not apply and it is up to the Judge how he deals with the case. However it will almost always involve the claimant going first, then the defendant, and then the claimant having a final opporutnity, before the Judge makes his decision.

Often the hearings will be quite informal. However always remember that this is not a ‘chat’ or a meeting. It is a court hearing, and can carry serious consequences.

Proving your case

If you are the claimant, you will have to make out your case. The Judge does not have second sight – you will need to prove things to him. And do not expect him to take things on trust. He will need evidence, and his decision will be based on the quality of the evidence he is shown.

However, if you do not have documentary proof of something, do not think that all is lost. Very often a case will come down to who the Judge believes. This is his job, to ‘judge’. When you spend your life hearing cases and listening to witnesses giving evidence, you often develop a sixth sense for who is telling the truth.

So if you are in the right and your opponent is lying through his teeth, you have a good chance of being believed. However Judges are not infallable, so try to have some decent evidence to support your case as well.

The ’standard of proof’ (as the lawyers call it) is that the Judge must be convinced that your case is more likley to be correct ‘on the balance of probability’. (This is a lower standard of proof than that in the criminal courts where the prosecution must prove its case ‘beyond reasonable doubt’.)

The best way to prove your case (and the way that the Judge will prefer) is to split your case up into sections. For example if you are claiming against your tenant £750 for damage done to your property, you may be claiming for several things, eg a damaged door, a stained carpet and for cleaning. For each of these items you need to prove:

Liability: this will include proving

• that the damage actually took place and
• that it is something the tenant is liable for (eg that it is not something due to ‘fair wear and tear’).

and

Quantum : this will include proviing

• that you have actually paid for the item (or possibly that you will pay for it in the future), and
• that the sum you are claiming is a reasonable one.

You need to do this for each and every item you are claiming.

So for example, for the carpet, your evidence should include photographs of the damaged carpet (and if you have them, pictures of it in its pristine state at the time the property was let to the tenants). For the cleaning, you will need to explain to the Judge (again using photographs if you have them, or perhaps with a witness such as your inventory clerk) why the condition of the property was beyond what will be covered under ‘fair wear and tear’.

So far as quantum is concerned, you will need to produce receipts and estimates. You will also need to show that the sum paid was reasonable. For example it will be unreasonable to expect the tenants to pay for a tatty old carpet to be replaced with an expensive new one (that is known as ‘betterment’, which is not normally allowed).

If you are the defendant, you will need to do the same exercise but in reverse. So for example in my hypothetical £750 damages case, you will be trying to prove that the carpet was hardly damaged at all, and that the house was left in a clean condition. And that if (which is denied) you are liable for anything, the sums claimed by the claimant are extortionate! An Argos catalogue (or something similar) is often used to show the average price of things.

Witnesses at trials

Your evidence will generally be mostly documentary – receipts, the tenancy agreement, photographs etc. However you may also have a witness, although often the only person giving evidence will be you.

A good witness, who gives clear evidence, can be a great help to your case. Before giving evidence they will need to be sworn. This means reading the wording of the oath off a card held up to them by the Usher and (if they are swearing on it) holding a bible in their right hand. They can also affirm, which means reading off a slightly different card and not holding a bible.

However the legal effect of both is the same. If you subsequently tell an untruth as part of your evidence, this is perjury which is a criminal offence. Don’t do it.

Often the witness will have signed a witness statement. If so, they will be asked to confirm this on oath, and you may also want to ask them a few questions about it. If there is no witness statement they will have to give their evidence orally, in response to questions from you. Or if you are giving evidence for your own case, just say what happened.

After this your opponent will be given an opportunity to cross examine. The Judge also may want to ask questions.

Finally, you will be given an opportunity to ask any questions of the witness which have occured to you as a result of the cross examination (known as re-examination).

Taking notes at trials

If you don’t agree with anything the witness says, you should not interrupt, but wait until your turn. It is therefore very important that you make notes of eveything said so you do not forget anything. This is why solicitors and barristers in court hearings are always scribbling away.

A useful technique is to write a big CX at the start of your notes of the original examination of the witness (called examination in chief), a big XX at the start of the cross examination, and a big RX at the start of the re-examination at the end.

You also need to keep a record of everything your opponent says, whether you are a claimant or a defendant. If you do not write it down, you will find it difficult to prove it was said later, or even remember it.

Courtesy

There is a tradition in the English Courts of being polite. So if you start banging around, shouting and swearing, and losing your temper, that will not go down at all well with the Judge. Remember also that he can always call on the court security staff, and in extreme cases, can order you to leave the court room or ultimately be imprisoned (not that I have ever known this happen, but …).

You should also not interrupt people when they are speaking. When it is your turn, you should be allowed to have your say. Likewise when your opponent is speaking.

If your opponent interrupts you, stop speaking immediately and look towards the Judge (with a polite but outraged expression, if you can manage this). He will probably tell your opponent to stop and let you finish. If the Judge does not do this, interrupt as politely as you can (but firmly), and ask the Judge if you could be allowed to finish what you were saying.

Being polite does not mean allowing others to ride roughshod over you, but there is a difference between being firm and being rude. Try to be firm.

Wrapping things up

It is important that you say all that you need to say during your ‘turn’. Although the Judge will try to ensure that both parties have an opportunity to say all they need, it is best to say things at the right time.

This is where your preparation comes in. You will probably feel flustered and nervous. The Judge will understand this and will not mind if you ask for a few minutes to check through your notes. If you have written things out clearly in advance you should be able to see easily whether you have covered everything. Order and method are so important in preparing for court hearings. And proper preparation is key. Remember, this hearing is your chance to prove your case. Don’t waste it.

Once the presentation part of the hearing is over and the Judge has made his decision, it will generally be too late to change things. But we will talk about this in the next section.

Part 6: Judgment and costs

So. You have finished making your presentation about your case. You have cross examined your opponents witnesses and you think you have picked up on all the points you wanted to make. It is now over to the Judge.

All the time you have been presenting and speaking, the Judge will have been making notes. He will have been assessing you and assessing your evidence. He now needs to come to a decision.

• Sometimes he will want to be on his own for a while to think about it. In which case you will have to go out to the waiting room and wait for the Usher to call you back in again.
• Sometimes, in a complex case, the Judge will ‘reserve judgment’, which usually means you will have to come back on anther day to hear the result.
• However, in the vast majority of cases, the Judge will have made his mind up while the case was ongoing, and will be ready to go as soon as the parties have finished what they want to say.

The Judge’s judgment speech

Before saying which party has won, the Judge will make a little speech. Generally he will start by saying what the case is about. He will then summarise the evidence that has been presented to him and give his opinion (note that, in the tradition of court courtesy, he will rarely say bluntly that he thinks someone has been lying – he will generally say he ‘prefers’ the evidence of Mr A to that of Mr B).

It is ESSENTIAL that you write as much as possible of this down. If you are unhappy about the decision the Judge comes to, and take legal advice after the hearing, the first thing the solicitor will ask you is the reasons the Judge gave for coming to the decision he did. If you can’t tell them, then it will be very difficult for them to advise you. So write it all down. (Most hearings are recorded and you may be able to get a transcript if necessary, however this could take some time, so it is always best to have your own notes.)

Once he has finished summarising the case and the evidence, the Judge will then say what his decision is.

Judgment

The Judge won’t always give the winning party everything that they have asked for. And in some cases, where there are a lot of different items (for example in a claim for damages against a tenant) he may agree to award compensation for some items but not for others. Or he may agree to make an award, but the sum awarded will be less than the figure claimed.

Once the Judge has made his decision, there is nothing you can do about it. It is no good trying to explain to him that he is wrong. You had your chance to do that earlier. Only in very, very, rare cases, where the Judge has clearly been under a massive misapprehension (and he accepts this) will you have any chance of changing his mind, and frankly I have never heard of this happening.

Once he has announced his decision there are a number of other things which will need to be decided.

Time for payment

In a financial claim, the Judgment will set out a date by which payment must be made (and this is the earliest date when the winner can issue enforcement proceedings). The Judge will generally want to talk to the defendant about his financial circumstances before he decides on what this period will be. However it is unlikely to be more than 28 days or at most six weeks into the future.

Often the Judge will make an order for payment by installments. However he will only do this if he feels that the installments are of a sum which the defendant can actually afford. Often judgment creditors are outraged at the miserly monthly payments which the defendants are ordered to pay. Again though, there is nothing you can do about this.

The significance of an installment order is that so long as the defendant keeps up the payments, you cannot use any of the court enforcement procedures. However if the defendant misses a payment, the whole lot falls due.

Time for possession

If you are a landlord and have followed the advice given in my do-it-yourself kits, you will have used a mandatory ground for possession. In which case the Judge will not be able to delay the date for possession more than six weeks from the date of the hearing.

If you have obtained possession under a discretionary ground however, the Judge can ’suspend’ the order so long as the defendant does or does not do something – generally this will be paying the rent arrears by installments. Again, you will not be able to enforce the order and get vacant possession while the suspended order is in force.

Costs

For big complex cases costs can be huge, and often there can be long complex hearings just about the costs. There is a whole profession of legal costs draftsmen who specialise in this work. However for the sort of cases we are talking about, costs are going to be far less significant.

Some important points:

First – costs are always in the discretion of the Judge. Although generally the winning party will get costs, if the Judge considers that they have behaved badly in some way, he may say that he will not award costs, or in very rare cases can even award costs to the losing party.

Second – you may need to remind or ask the Judge to deal with costs. It is not something he will do automatically.

Third – for many types of hearing, all you will get is fixed costs plus the court fee. And the fixed costs will generally only be awarded if you have used a solicitor. Which means you may only get the court fee.

Fourth – for small claims trials you can usually get your own costs of traveling to the court (including parking) but the Judge will expect you have have receipts to prove what you have paid. Make sure therefore that you have these with you. You may also be able to get an award to compensate you for having to take time off work – again subject to proof. Get your employer to write a letter for you about this.

Finally – for the interim type of hearing discussed in part 4, the Judge will often order that costs be ‘in the case’. This means that they will fall to be decided by the Judge at the end of the case. Which means in turn, that if you win at trial, you need to remind the Judge about this and get him to make an assessment.

Don’t get too worked up about costs. Sadly, many judgments go unpaid, and often the winner will be lucky to get his judgment paid at all. In particular landlords evicting for arrears of rent will rarely see any of the judgment debt paid. Sad but true.

Before you leave the courtroom

Make sure you have the details of the award written down correctly. If you are not sure, ask the Judge to repeat it.

Check also that you have all your documents and other possessions. If you have handed something to the Judge that you need back, remember to ask him for it. Try not to leave anything in the room, as if you do, you may have to wait some time if there is a long hearing in there after you.

Part 7: After the hearing

You will probably think of lots of things you should have said! Don’t worry, we all do that.

If you missed the hearing

The Judge will probably (although not necessarily) have awarded the case to your opponent in your absence. You can telephone the court to find out what the decision is, although you will may have to hang on a long time before your call is answered.

If you had a genuine reason for not attending (for example if you had an accident on the way to the court) you may be able to get the decision set aside, and a new hearing listed. However you need to deal with this asap, and it is best to get some advice from a solicitor first or, better still, get them to make the application for you.

Appeals

If you are seriously unhappy about the decision the Judge made you should ask the Judge for permission to appeal. He will probably refuse, so you will need to seek legal advice immediately as there are time limits for putting in an application for the decision to be appealed (which means getting it is looked at again by a more senior Judge).

As mentioned in part 6, the solicitor advising you will want to know what the Judge said when he was giving his judgment. If you have not written this down, it will be difficult for him to help you. Sometimes the hearing will have been recorded, but getting transcripts done is time consuming and expensive.

If you have not made notes at the time the Judge was speaking (by far the best thing to do), write down as much as you can remember as soon as possible after the hearing. If you don’t do this quickly your memory will fade, and you will probably find it difficult to remember anything clearly.

The court order

The award or order made by the Judge (but not his speech beforehand about the case) will be typed up and sent to you later, sometimes as much as several weeks later (another reason why you should take care to write things down accurately).

For many types of hearing nowadays (for example possession hearings) the Judge fills in a pre printed form, and this is sent off to be typed, often in a completely different court. It is not unknown therefore, for errors to creep in. You should always check your court order very carefully when you receive it.

If you find an error (for example I have often come across possession orders which state that the order was made pursuant to a discretionary ground when in fact it was made under a mandatory ground – an important point), the thing to do is send the court order (or rather a copy of it) back to the court telling them what is wrong, and asking them to amend it.

They can do this under a rule known as the ’slip’ rule. You will get the order back a week or so later with the wrong part crossed out in red and the correct wording written in, also in red.

If your opponent fails to comply with the order

You will have to enforce it! Sadly very many county court judgments remain unpaid. Getting a CCJ is not at all the same as getting the money. Often getting the money is far far harder than getting the decision.

Enforcement of judgments is a very long and complex subject in itself, and whole books have been written about it. I have a fair amount of information about this on my Landlord Law site, plus you will find helpful leaflets on the court service web-site.