Legal Jargon

The term fast-track applies to straightforward claims where the maximum value is £25,000 or under and which can be usually be dealt with in a one-day trial. In practice, this applies to most personal injury claims i.e. accidents that have had a significant impact on your life but from which you can make a recover. However, some cases that fall within this claims limit may not be treated as fast track because they are too complex.

Multi-track claims are more complicated and complex personal injury cases, where the injuries are significant and potentially long-term, with damages valued at more than £25,000.

The portal is a secure, online electronic systems for processing personal injury claims up to the value of £25,000.

A court that oversees personal injury cases that are likely to have a value of less than £1,000.

A personal injury trust can be set up to hold and manage a person’s damages to ensure that this money is not taken into account for assessment of means-tested benefits or care contributions.

General term for Court documentation.

A general direction or supplemental protocol laid down in the Civil Procedure Rules, or issued by a Court or judge, to explain how a rule should be interpreted and to outline what the parties are required to do in order to comply with that rule.

A supplemental protocol to rules of civil and criminal procedure in the courts – “a device to regulate minor procedural matters” – and is “an official announcement by the court laying down rules as to how it should function.”

A hearing to decide a point of procedure or a specific issue that goes fundamentally to the heart of the claim or a defence.

A Latin term that means “at first appearance” or “on the face of it”. In civil and criminal law it is used to say that at first look, and without any further investigation, there is sufficient evidence to support a case. In practice, is it used to justify a decision to pursue a case or, in if there is no prima facie evidence, to either dismiss the case or investigate more closely.