Civil Litigation
Civil Litigation means the proceeding of civil cases in the court. Civil cases are about the recovery of money, debts, remedies, compensation, and to stop a person from doing an act (Injunction).
Civil cases commonly involve Personal Injury Law (Accident cases, Medical Malpractice, Nursing Abuse, Violation of rights and all types of economic and non-economic loss), Breach of Contracts, Family Cases, Divorce Settlement, Debt Collection.
If you have faced any economic or non-economic loss due to wrongful act or negligence of any person. You have the legal right to file a Civil Suit in the court and demand compensation. The person who is filing the suit is called ‘Plaintiff’ and the accused or alleged person is called ‘Defendant’.
The civil cases are very sensitive. The reason is these cases run for long terms in the court and both parties need to submit much evidence, witness to justify their claims. In civil cases there should following elements:
- Cause of Action
- Injuries
- Demands
Cause of Action means the reason or act of the defendant due to which the plaintiff faced damage or injury. Injuries mean all types of physical injuries and emotional injuries. Demands mean the compensation, recovery of damages, and other remedies mentioned in Thai law. If the suit does not have the cause of action or the plaintiff is not affected by the act of the defendant (injuries), and the plaintiff has no demands from the court i.e. Remedies, Compensation that suit is not acceptable before the court and Thai law.
civil litigation
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Procedure of Civil Courts:
When civil courts receive a complaint from a plaintiff, the court checks wether the suit it is acceptable or not. If it is acceptable and all essential elements are mentioned in the suit, the court will send a notice to the defendant to submit the written statement against the complaint.
The defendant needs to submit the written statement within 15 days after receiving notice from the court. When the court receives the written statement from the defendant, the court will fix a date for hearing and order the parties to submit their evidence, witness, and other original admissible documents.
The court will analyze the complaint and written statement and Frame The Issue in the case to identify what is the issue between the parties, the most important thing is the dispute is ‘Issue In Facts or Issue In Law’. After framing issues, the proper trail of the case will start and both parties will justify their claims through legal representatives.
If the plaintiff succeeds to prove the ‘Balance of Probabilities’ (Court is satisfied that an event occurred, plaintiff faced injuries/damages) the court will give all demanded remedies, compensation, and also remedies mentioned in the Thai law.
In civil cases, both parties should proceed with their case through a legal representative. The reason is that civil cases are complicated, an ordinary person who does not know much about the law cannot proceed with the case in court. The lawyer will help you in drafting the legal documents, filing a suit, and most importantly in the trail. ‘Trail’ is the most important element of a case, both parties submit their original documents, record of evidence before the judge, statement of witnesses. The lawyers of both parties do cross-examination on the arised statement, evidence and witness. Courts also allow attorneys of both parties to do arguments so they can justify their claims.
Personal Injury Cases
In Personal Injury Cases, a lawyer will help you to recover damages from the accused and also to get all remedies mentioned in the Thai law. The lawyer will also help you to advise you about the case that it has worth in the court or not or the documents are admissible or not. Another important civil case is ‘Breach of Contract’. A lawyer will also help you to recover the damages and other compensation from the accused.
If you or your loved one is injured in an accident due to a wrongful act or negligence, you can file the civil suit under Personal Injury Law and claim for the following damage:
- Cost of the medical bills
- The loved one’s pain and suffering or disfigurement
- Lost of job or inability to work
- Compensation of non-economic loss
- Recovery of economic loss…
If the victim is killed in a wrongful accident, his legal representative can also claim for the loss of companionship, funeral cost, financial damage due to the death of the victim, etc.
The statute of limitations (the prescription period) for most of the personal injury claims is one year. But this prescription periods may vary based on a number of factors and this is why you should contact a qualified lawyer as soon as you can to ensure that you file your claim before it has expired.
Breach of Contract
Breach of Contract means when any contracting party denies fulfilling his legal duty mentioned in the contract. For example, in a rent agreement, the tenant refuses to pay the rent of the property. In these breach of contract cases, you can demand damages and also other non-economic loss from the accused through your lawyer.
Another important thing in civil cases is, to consider the original jurisdiction, pecuniary jurisdiction of the courts. The lawyer will advise you in which court you should file the suit. The defendant can object to the judgment of the court if the case is not in the jurisdiction of the court. The civil cases will file in those areas where the damaged party faced the injuries or damages or where the defendant is residing.
Language of The Suit:
According to Thai law, civil cases should be filed in the Thai language. If a foreigner wants to file a suit, he is also legally bound to translate it into the Thai language. The court has the legal right to dismiss the suit if it is not in the Thai language.
Claims in Civil Cases:
The common claims in civil cases are the recovery of money, damages, compensation, or other remedies mentioned in Thai law.