Civil procedure 445Similarly, the claimant might make a written offer, stating the sum of money which he or
she would take in order to settle the dispute. If the defendant does not accept this, and if the
claimant is awarded more than the amount he or she offered to accept, then the defendant
will (as the loser of the case) have to pay all the costs of both parties. In addition, the defend-
ant will normally be penalised in that the court will order him or her to pay interest on the
sum for which the claimant offered to settle at a rate of interest which can be as high as
10 per cent above the base rate. The judge who tries the case must not be told that a pay-
ment into court or an offer to settle has been made until he or she has decided on liability
and awarded a sum as damages.
Example
John has been badly injured by David’s negligence. The amount of damages is likely to be
high and the case is allocated to the multi-track. After a few months of negotiations, both
John and David have each incurred legal costs of £5,000. David then pays the sum of
£100,000 into court. John responds immediately by offering to settle the matter for a pay-
ment of £170,000. The parties do not settle the case, which goes to court. John’s legal fees
incurred after the offer to settle amount to £43,000. David’s legal fees after the payment into
court was made amount to £46,000.
(a) At the trial John is awarded damages of £100,000 or less. John must pay all of his own
costs of £48,000 (£5,000 + £43,000) and David’s costs incurred after David’s payment
into court (£46,000). If John was awarded damages of less than £94,000 he would
therefore have all of his damages eaten up and might still owe money.
(b) John is awarded damages of more than £100,000 but less than £170,000. David, as the
loser of the case, will have to pay the costs of both sides.
(c) John is awarded damages of more than £170,000. David, as the loser of the case, will
have to pay the costs of both sides. In addition, the court can order that David pays
interest on the £170,000 for which John offered to settle, at a rate which must not be
more than 10 per cent above the base rate.Tribunals
Various Acts of Parliament have established tribunals to hear certain types of cases. These
tribunals hear more cases than are heard by the county court or the High Court.
It is not possible to take a dispute to a tribunal unless the dispute concerns the particular
type of matter with which the tribunal deals. If the dispute does concern such a matter,
then a dispute cannot be taken before the ordinary courts but must be dealt with by the
relevant tribunal. In the study of business law the only tribunals of real significance are the
employment tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal.
Several advantages are claimed for tribunals. They are likely to hear a case more quickly
than the county court, with lower costs, as the parties can represent themselves. The proceed-
ings are often informal and tribunal members have considerable experience in their fields.
Alternative dispute resolution
As mentioned earlier, litigation should always be a last resort. We have seen that if a case
does reach the stage of going to court then the loser will generally have to pay the costs of