Clinical / Medical Negligence - Legal Jargon
Making a Clinical Negligence claim can be emotionally and mentally challenging. We do not want the legal process and the wording we use to make the situation worse so we strive to keep legal jargon to a minimum. We appreciate you will come across terms you may not understand so we have tried to explain these as clearly as possible in the definitions below, so that you fully understand the process you are going through.
If you need further explanation then please do contact us.
Adjournment
When a court hearing is moved to another date.
Affidavit
A formal written declaration made on oath. If the contents of the affidavit are proven to be false then the person who provided the affidavit may be in contempt of Court.
Aggravated Damages
Additional damages awarded as a result of the Defendant’s conduct. Aggravated Damages are generally to compensate the Claimant for the additional harm that has been suffered (see Damages).
Allocation
The process of deciding which set of court rules to apply to a specific case.
See Small Claims track, Fast track and Multi track.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
The process of settling a claim on terms decided by the parties outside of the normal Court procedure.
Appeal
In the event that an Order is wrong in law, the process where a party applies to a superior Court to reverse the decision.
Balance of Probabilities
This is the standard of proof in civil cases. Essentially, the party that produces an argument that is most probably true (i.e. more likely than not) will be successful.
Breach of Duty
Medical professionals owe their patients a ‘Duty of Care’ – a responsibility to take care of them properly and to a reasonable standard. If the care given to a patient does not live up to the required standard and it could reasonably have been avoided by the professional concerned, then this may be classed as a Breach of Duty. This is also known as “negligence”.
Burden of Proof
In civil cases including medical negligence claims, the Claimant carries the burden of proof. In the first instance, it is for the Claimant to prove the case and the factual matrix (who, when, where, how?).
Case Management Conference
A hearing where a timetable for the management of a claim is either agreed or ordered by the Court.