Civil law, also known as non-criminal law or private law, is a set of rules and regulations that help resolve non-criminal disputes between individuals, organizations, and families. These disputes can be personal, such as property matters, ownership, marriage, insurance claims, and child custody, or organizational. Civil law uses defined procedures, judicial precedents, and compensation or fines to resolve these disputes.
In India, the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) of 1908 is the primary law that governs civil proceedings. Civil law matters can include:
•Societies and cooperative societies
•Land acquisition litigation
•Contractual dispute litigation
•Property litigation
•Consumer protection law
•Unknown transaction matters
•Matters related to foreign acts
•Easements litigation
•Successions and trusts
What is the structure of the civil court system in India?
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India is the highest court of appeal and is the final interpreter of the Constitution and the laws of the land. The Constitution gives an extensive original jurisdiction to the Supreme
Court in regard to enforcement of fundamental rights. It is empowered to issue directions, orders or writs, including writs in the nature of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari. The Supreme Court has also a very wide appellate jurisdiction over all courts and tribunals in India in as much as it may, in its discretion, grant special leave to appeal from any judgment, decree,
determination, sentence or order in any cause or matter passed or made by any court or tribunal in the territory of India. The Supreme Court also hears appeals from any judgment, decree or final order
of a high court, in both civil and criminal cases, involving substantial questions of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution.
High courts
The high courts are placed directly under the Supreme Court. The high courts entertain appeals from the subordinate courts and tribunals situated in the state or states over which they exercise jurisdiction. They also act as courts of revision for the subordinate courts
and tribunals. Some high courts also exercise original jurisdiction in civil and admiralty matters. Apart from the original and appellate jurisdiction, the Constitution vests in the high courts the power to
issue writs or orders for the enforcement of fundamental rights or for any other specified purpose such as public interest litigation. High courts have the power of superintendence, judicial and administrative, over all courts and tribunals in the state or states over which they exercise jurisdiction, except those dealing with armed forces.
Subordinate courts
Next in the hierarchy of the courts are the subordinate courts and tribunals. The highest court in each district is that of the court of district and sessions judge. This is the principal court of civil jurisdiction. This is also a court of sessions. There are many other courts subordinate to the court of district and sessions judge. On the civil side, at the lowest level is the court of civil judge (junior division) deciding civil cases of specified pecuniary limits. At the middle of the hierarchy there is the court of civil judge (senior division) on the civil side which usually decides civil cases of any valuation, subject
to certain exceptions. There are many additional courts, like that of an additional district judge and additional civil judge (senior division). The jurisdiction of these additional courts is the same as that
of the district judge or that of the civil judge (senior division), as the case may be Appeals normally lie from these courts to the district courts or high courts
Tribunals
Specialized tribunals are established under various acts such as:
• the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal;
• the Company Law Board;
• the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal;
• the Central and State Administrative Tribunals;
• the Debt Recovery Tribunal; and
• the Intellectual Property Appellate Tribunal.
All these tribunals are under the superintendence of the high court within whose territorial jurisdiction they function.
Consumer forums
District consumer forums have the jurisdiction to entertain complaints where the value of the goods or services and the compensation claimed, if any, does not exceed 2 million rupees. State commissions are empowered to entertain complaints where the value of the goods or services and compensation claimed, if any, exceeds 2 million rupees but does not exceed 10 million rupees, and they also entertain appeals against the orders of any dis trict forum within the state. The National Commission is empowered to entertain complaints where the value of the goods or services and compensation claimed,if any, exceeds 10 million rupees, and they also entertain appeals against the orders of any state commission.
What is the rote of the judge in civil proceedings in India?
As the Indian legal regime is based on the common law system, the court system is adversarial and an impartial judge is required to pass judgments after hearing the advocates representing the party litigants. They do not investigate cases on their own Pleadings, timings and procedure
Pleadings before the civil court
The Code of Civil Procedure 1908 (CPC) defines pleading as a plaint or a written statement. The plaint is the document that is required to be filed to institute a civil proceeding in a court of law. The plaint is
the plaintiff’s pleading, a statement of claims in which it sets our it cause of action with all necessary particulars. The document that is required to be filed to institute proceedings in a tribunal is called the
original application. After the defendant or defendants have been served with a copy of the plaint, the defendant’s written statement is then required to be filed in the court within 30 days from rhe date of service and a copy must be handed over to the plaintiff. The written statement is the defendant’s response to the plaint, admitting or specifically denying each material fact alleged by the plaintiff in the plaint. The defendant may set out any additional facts as may be relevant to the case. Any legal objections to the claim of the plaintiff may also be set out in the written statement. Should the plaintiff wish to deny any of the statements in the written statement, or respond to any allegation made by the defendant by adding further material facts, it may file a rejoinder. However, the defendant may file an additional written statement only with the leave of the court.
The defendant may also claim a set-off or make a counterclaim in the written statement. A set-off is any ascertained sum of money legally recoverable by the defendant against the plaintiff, which would be ‘set off’ against the plaintiff’s claim, effectively reducing the value of the plaintiff’s claim to the extent of the value of the set-off. A counterclaim is any right or claim of the defendant against the plaintiff in respect of a cause of action accruing to the defendant against the plaintiff at a point in time before the defendant has delivered its defence in the current suit.
In the event of a set-off or counterclaim being alleged by the defendant in a written statement, it shall be treated as a cross-suit and the plaintiff in turn is entitled to respond with a written statement,either admitting or making specific denial of each material fact. Pleadings under the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) An action before a consumer forum is brought by way of a complaint which contains the basis on which the complainant alleges defects in rhe products. Once the complaint is admitted and upon receipt of notice and the copy of the complaint, the opposite party is entitled to file a defence statement which is called the opposition. Since the proceedings before the consumer forum are summary in nature, the
complainant is entitled to file its evidence by way of an affidavit. Once the evidence on affidavit is filed, the opposite party is entitled to file a questionnaire in the form of interrogatories seeking for replies from the complainant. Once the questionnaire is replied to by the complainant, the opposite parry is entitled to file a reply thereto, if it so wishes. Once these pleadings are complete, the matter is posted
for final hearing Pre-filing requirements
Are there any pre-filing requirements that must be satisfied before a formal lawsuit may be commenced by the product liability claimant?
Though there are no mandatory pre-filing requirements which must be satisfied before a suit is brought into being, parties may contractually agree to include a conciliation mechanism before the disputes arc
brought before a court of law. In that event, the parties are contractually bound to follow such conciliation mechanism. An advocates’ notice is also often issued to trigger the legal proceedings and to afford an opportunity to the defaulting person to make good the grievances of the party alleging so.
It is pertinent to note that in a contractual dispute, if an arbitration clause exists and if a suit is filed by the plaintiff claiming certain reliefs, and if an application is filed by the defendant for referring the parties to arbitration before filing the written statement, the parties are mandatorily referred to arbitration.
What is the basic trial structure in india?
The Indian court system is adversarial and an impartial judge is required to pass judgments after hearing the advocates representing the party litigants. Judges do not investigate cases on their own. Owing to the pressure of litigation on Indian courts, trials almost never run on consecutive days and dates are fixed on a periodic basis. Live testimony is very common, and even though documents are filed
in court as evidence, they have to be proved through oral evidence and cross-examination. All civil proceedings in India are public and held in open court.
The basic trial structure is as follow Steps:-
- Framing of issues by the court:
After the plaint has been filed by the plaintiff and the written statement filed by the defendant in court, the court then frames the issues. The framing of issues involves identifying issues that raise specific questions of law and separating those issues from irrelevant facts of the case. After the framing of issues by the court, the parties to the suit decide which relevant documents are to be provided to the court. The parties would have to submit these documents and prove their originality to the court.
- Filing documents and leading evidence
Without exceeding 15 days after the framing of issues, the parties are expected to present a list of witnesses. For this purpose, any party to the suit may apply to the court for the issuance of summons to persons whom they propose to call as witnesses.
- The parties to the suit are provided reasonable opportunity to lead evidence. After the parties have cross-examined the witnesses on both sides (including re-examination), the next stage of trial is the arguments put forward by the opposing parties.
- Posting for final arguments The right to begin or the privilege of opening the case is determined
by the rules of evidence. The general rule is that the party' on whom the burden of proof lies should begin first. However, where there are several issues to be proved, and the burden of proving some of which lies on either party, the plaintiff may choose either to go into the whole case in the first instance or may merely adduce evidence on those issues which lie upon it, reserving its right to rebutting the evidence should its opponent make our a prima facie case.
Arguments by both sides are intended to brief the judge with a summary and gist of the evidence produced by each side. At this stage there are examinations and submissions by the parties in order to prove their point or substantiate their argument, which involves three steps:
(i) examination-in-chief: the examination of a witness by the party
who calls him or her shall be called his or her examination-inchief. It is a prerogative of a party by whom the witness is called to examine him or her in chief for the purpose of eliciting from the witness all the material facts within his or her knowledge which tend to prove the party’s case. Examination-in-chief is also known as direct examination;
(ii) cross-examination: the examination of a witness by the adverse
party shall be called his or her cross-examination; and
(iii) re-examination: the examination of a witness, subsequent to the
cross-examination by the party who called him or her, shall be called his or her re-examination.
This is an important stage in a case, since the judge may not be able to read and assimilate lengthy documents covering evidences on both sides, but is capable of perceiving and assimilating what is stated in the arguments.
>>That on another side The Act which defines and unable parties to seek certain type of specific relief and this law relating to certain types of specific relief, which called The Specific Relief Act of 1963
The Specific Relief Act of 1963 is an Act of the Parliament of India that provides remedies for people whose civil or contractual rights have been violated. The Act was enacted to protect the rights of people who seek equitable relief. It replaced an earlier Act of 1877 and came into effect on December 13, 1963.
The Act defines and amends the law relating to certain types of specific relief, which include:
•Recovery of possession of property
•Specific performance of contracts
•Rectification of instruments
•Rescission of contracts
•Cancellation of instruments
•Declaratory decrees
•Injunction
The Act imposes certain limitations on the grant of specific relief, including cases where monetary compensation is an adequate remedy, cases involving personal service contracts, and cases where the performance of the contract involves continuous supervision by the court.
RECOVERY OF MONEY THROUGH CIVIL COURTS UNDER CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE:
A money recovery suit is a legal process that allows individuals and entities to recover money owed through a civil court. The Civil Procedure Code (CPC) and other relevant laws govern the money recovery process.
A money recovery suit can be filed under Order IV of the CPC to recover money in various circumstances, such as: Unpaid loans, Unpaid invoices, Dishonored Cheques, Breach of contract, and Non-payment of rent.
Anyone with the right to sue can file a money recovery suit in a civil court, but the suit must meet certain jurisdictional requirements. These include:
•Territorial jurisdiction: Covered by sections 15–20 of the CPC
•Pecuniary jurisdiction: Covered by section 16 of the A.P. Civil Courts Act
•Subject matter/inherent jurisdiction: Covered by section 9 of the CPC
The process for filing a money recovery suit may include the following steps:
1. Sending a signed copy of the complaint and required documents to a lawyer
2. The lawyer filing the petition in court within three working days of the draft being approved
3. The lawyer making preliminary arguments on the client's behalf and getting the petitioner admitted
4. The debtor filing a reply to the petition
5. The court conducting a hearing to listen to arguments and determine if the debtor should be allowed to defend their case
RECOVERY OF MONEY UNDER ORDER 37 CPC:
Order XXXVII of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) is a legal mechanism that allows individuals to recover money quickly based on written contracts, bills of exchange, promissory notes, and other similar documents. It applies to certain courts, including High Courts, City Civil Courts, and Courts of Small Causes.
A suit for recovery of money is a civil relief that can be used to recover money from someone who is delinquent. It can be used to recover money owed for a variety of reasons, such as unpaid loans, invoices, or rent, or in the case of dishonored checks or breach of contract. Anyone who has the right to sue can file a money suit, including:
•Principals and agents
•Co-holders of a debt or actionable claim
•Partners
•Trustees and trust beneficiaries
•Religious institutions and their members
•Hindu joint families and their members
•Banking companies and financial institutions
•Civil and military officers
•Other statutory authorities
•Executors
One of the main advantages of an Order XXXVII suit is that the plaintiff can receive an immediate judgment if the defendant is unable to establish a strong defense. In contrast to a regular suit, summary proceedings can be easier for the plaintiff to establish their case and more difficult for the defendant. In a summary suit, the defendant is not entitled to defend the suit as of right and must apply for leave to defend within 10 days. The court will only grant leave to defend if the defendant's affidavit includes facts that require the plaintiff to prove consideration or other facts that the court deems relevant.
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