Matthew Collings of Maitland Chambers instructed by Burton Copeland for Eastaway. Jonathan Crow of 4 Stone Buildings and Richard Gillis of One Essex Court instructed by the Treasury Solicitor for the Secretary of State. The paradigm of legal redress in action is the trial. A hearing, live witnesses, cross-examination, wigs, gowns, all the trimmings. A full trial.
Full trials are, however, expensive, time-consuming and often unnecessary.
Quite apart from pre-trial settlement, many claims are judged summarily without a trial or even struck out. It provides for the right to a fair and public hearing in the determination of a person's civil rights. In civil proceedings, striking out a claim has long been a discretionary sanction of the court. Restarting a struck-out claim may be expensive, even if it is possible to do so. Oral evidence and cross-examination are normally impermissible.