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A Guide for Attending the County Court
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Before you start:
We are assuming in this article that the hearing will be a claim for possession. In which case you should first read our guide for tenants faced with eviction proceedings.
1. See you in Court! (County Court that is)
Receiving a summons from your Local County Court is not the nicest of experiences. I’m sure that you would prefer to receive a Birthday Party invite or a wedding invitation.
Nonetheless, sometimes communication breaks down with your landlord, or you are unable to keep up with your obligations as a tenant, i.e. paying the full rent on time, or your landlord needs to go through the motions in order to repossess their property.
Whatever the reason, you may have received a Notice of a Hearing from the Court, known as a ‘Summons.’
2. First Steps: Read EVERYTHING!
Once received, it is important to read through all of the paperwork, along with the preceding paperwork, if you have not already done so.
If you are able to instruct a solicitor, even just to give you advice, please do this too. We have a list of services that you can access for free here.
If you are in receipt of Universal Credit, or your income and capital are below a certain threshold, you may be entitled to assistance under the Legal Aid scheme. You can find information and guidance on eligibility here.
3. Check Details
Always check the date of the Hearing.
You may find that there has been a mistake by the Court and you have been given several different dates or that a date falls on a non-working day.
Check the address of the Court. Sometimes the address for correspondence and the address of the Court that you are to attend are different.
Check where you are supposed to be. It’s a good idea to visit the Court beforehand if you can, so that you can better plan your journey.
Some courts, and in particular most London Courts, will not provide parking. In which case, if you intend to drive to Court, you will need to work out where you can park.
You can find details about the court by doing an online search here. Although the information provided varies from Court to Court and not all provide parking information.
Post-COVID19 you could be in the Court for up to an hour or more. This will include arrival, going through security, finding the Courtroom, meeting with your representative or the Duty Advisor, and appearing before the Judge.
Check which Hearing it is. Since the COVID19 outbreak, the Courts have changed the procedure. You will now receive what is known as an ‘R’ Hearing first. The ‘R’ stands for ‘Review.’ This is yet another opportunity for you to instruct a solicitor, or to communicate with the Duty Advice Scheme.
Parking
If you intend to drive to court and if your car is parked in a pre-pay car park – make sure you have paid enough. You do not want to have to go out to top up the payment just before your case comes on.
Be aware that just because your case is listed (for example) for 10.00 am for a five-minute hearing, this does not mean that your case will actually be called at 10.00 am. You may be waiting quite a long time.
4. Duty Advice Scheme
The Duty Advice Scheme is a service provided by the Legal Aid Agency where Local Law Centres and solicitor firms provide legal representation at the Local County Court for possession proceedings, for free.
On possession heaing days, the court is normally packed full of defendants and claimants. Judges will usually allow for defendants to meet with Duty Advisors prior to their Hearing, in any space that is available.
5. Representation and representatives
We will be using the words ‘advocate’ and ‘representative’ interchangeably in this article. An advocate is someone who speaks to the Court on your behalf. A representative is someone who makes representations on your behalf.
Ideally, any advocate or representative helping you should be legally trained – and will be considered an ‘officer of the Court’. They may be solicitors, barristers, or legally trained Duty Advisors. Some Duty Advisors are also qualified solicitors or barristers.
Be aware that in England and Wales ‘lawyer’ is a general term for persons who provide legal services. There is no legal definition under UK Law for ‘lawyer’ and the word ‘lawyer’ does not mean that someone has a legal qualification – unlike ‘solicitor’ or ‘barrister’. Both solicitors and barristers are qualified lawyers who have had to pass tough exams and undergo additional practical training.
However, both solicitors and barristers are ‘lawyers’. Generally, solicitors are directly instructed by members of the public, and barristers are instructed by solicitors to make representations in Court on behalf of the solicitor’s client (or sometimes to give specialist advice).
Confusingly though, some barristers can be instructed directly by the public and some solicitors have obtained an additional ‘solicitor advocate’ qualification, but the details of this are beyond the scope of this article!
6. Timekeeping
On the date of your Substantive Hearing, you should try to arrive at Court at least 30 minutes before the time listed for your Hearing.
When you go to Court, you will need to pass through security checks, and it is likely that you will not know your way around the Court – so arriving with time to spare is vital.
Whilst Court Hearings may sometimes be delayed if you are late, Judges are often made aware of lateness by the Court Ushers, and they interpret this as someone not taking the matter seriously.
If you are going to be late
If you do not have an advocate, it can be very difficult to get through to the Court on the telephone to say that you will be late. We would recommend that you try, nonetheless, and that you also send an apologetic email. It may not reach the Judge in time for your Hearing, but it may be helpful if you were forced to appeal a judgement.
Mobile phones
If you do have an advocate, it would be best to exchange mobile telephone numbers, just in case, and to ensure that your mobile phone is switched on, until you have arrived.
Once you have arrived and located your advocate, you should either switch your mobile phone off, or place it on silent (not on vibrate, as this can be distracting).
7. Paperwork
Make sure you attend Court with ALL of your paperwork, including a copy of your Defence, evidence of any payments that you have made and any correspondence between you and your landlord.
If your landlord is bringing proceedings against you due to rent arrears, have with you evidence of your income and expenditure, including any benefit entitlement, even if you are waiting for a payment.
Landlords cannot base a possession claim on rent arrears due to the non-payment of Universal Credit, so if this is the reason for your arrears, make sure you have evidence of this with you at Court.
Also have with you evidence of any disability that may have prevented you from fulfilling your duties as a tenant, especially if you have evidence that your landlord was aware of your disability and the effect that it is having on you.
Its important that you have with you at Court ALL paperwork relating to your case.
Don’t leave anything behind thinking that it won’t be important. Often you will find that the one thing you have left behind is critical to your defence!
8. What to Wear?
Dress smart, yet comfortable.
You will not be allowed to wear sunglasses or a hat unless this is due to medical and/or religious reasons. We would strongly advise that you attend with evidence of those reasons, whether a letter from your optician or if your religion is uncommon, evidence of wearing a hat as a requirement.
It is best not to wear any sportswear, including trainers/sneakers. However, you will not be penalised if you do.
9. Day in Court
Note – this is not ‘your day in Court.’ Court hearings are not like television!
You are the defendant. This is your landlord’s opportunity to have the Court make a decision on their application for possession (assuming your case is a possession claim).
If your landlord has made a procedural error, or has done something untoward, you will have your opportunity to raise this, but it may not be relevant to the proceedings, and/or the Judge may choose to overlook it.
You will have already had an opportunity to submit your defence, when you initially received the paperwork. However, the Courts understand that if you are unrepresented, you may not have understood this, and a Judge may allow you to say something.
Again, this will not necessarily change the decision of the Court, and so the earlier you receive comprehensive advice and possibly the assistance of a solicitor, the better!
If you accept the assistance of the Duty Advisor, you will be asked by the Court Usher to complete a form. Once complete, the Advisor will read through your paperwork to form an idea of your legal position and discuss with you what representations they will make on your behalf before the Court.
If you are being represented in the Courtroom it is important that you allow your representative to speak on your behalf, unless the Judge speaks to you directly.
10. Negotiations
You will have another opportunity to meet with a Duty Advisor before you are called into the Courtroom. Judges prefer that you do this, so that the whole process is explained to you and you are aware of your rights before the Hearing.
Before entering the Courtroom your representative or the Duty Advisor will try to negotiate with your landlord and their advocate, to see if any amicable settlement can be reached which will uphold your rights, while being workable for both you and your landlord.
If this is not possible, your representative will make representations on your behalf during the hearing.
11. Inside of the Courtroom
You will be called into the Courtroom by the Court Usher. Usually, your representative and the representative for your landlord will be seated on the front bench/row of seats, and you and your landlord would be seated behind. You and your representative sit on the right-hand side and your landlord will sit on the left.
Addressing the Judge
You can address a Deputy District or a District Judge as ‘Madam’ or ‘Sir.’ If you are before a Circuit Judge, they are to be addressed as ‘Your Honour.’
During the hearing
The Judge will normallyhave already read through all of the paperwork received. They may start (or ‘lead’) with questions for your landlord, particularly if they have noticed any procedural errors. They may begin by asking the landlord what Order they are seeking.
Once your landlord has finished (or ‘stated their case’), the Judge will allow your advocate to make representations on your behalf. If the Judge has any further questions they will allow your representative to quickly and quietly confer with you, or they will ask you directly.
Do not attempt to record the Hearing. These Hearings are recorded by the Court, and you can always order a transcript afterwards.
However, as this can take up to 4 weeks or more and cost between £150-£400 (for a hearing of up to 1 hour) it is a good idea to take your own detailed notes during the hearing.
Do not speak over the Judge.
Do not speak over the advocate for your landlord, or your landlord, even if you do not agree with what is being said.
You will have your opportunity to respond later.
Do not be rude or aggressive. Remember that ultimately Judges have the power to send you to prison!
When speaking during the hearing, you should address the Judge, not your landlord or their representative.
If you are unrepresented you should try to take notes of everything that happens. If you are represented, your representative should do this, but it is a good idea for you to take notes too!
If you are unrepresented and find writing difficult, you should take someone with you to take notes for you.
12. Judgement
After having heard both sides evidence during the hearing, the Judge will then go on to give the judgement. They normally make a little speech setting out the evidence and the reasons for their decision.
Once the Judge has started giving their judgement, no more representations can be made. Your advocate should write down what the Judge is saying (if you are not represented YOU should do this).
You will know when the judgement is being made, as the representatives will grow very quiet and begin scribbling away as they try to get down every word that is said by the Judge. It is vital that they take accurate notes as this is what you will be relying upon until you receive a copy of the Court Order. For example, if you want to appeal.
After the hearing, you will then leave the Courtroom. Make sure you have everything with you, as if you leave anything behind, you may not be able to get in to retrieve it for some time if the next case has gone in.
Once outside, your representative will explain what happened and what this means for you. They should also write to you, and you will eventually receive a copy of the Order from the Court.
When you get the Court Order, make sure you check it carefully as it is not unknown for mistakes to be made by Court Staff when transcribing the judge’s handwriting!
13. Appealing the Judgement
If you are unhappy with the outcome of the Hearing, you can (if he thinks you have grounds for appeal) ask your representative to request permission from the Judge to appeal.
Equally, after the hearing is over, you can appeal to the Court within 21 days of the Order being made.
You should get legal advice before appealing though so make sure you discuss this with your representative before doing anything.
This is the end of this article.
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