Litigants in Person
Every litigant has the right to conduct his own case without legal representation. Indeed, there are in certain areas courts known as `small claims courts’ which hear claims involving 1175 and in which the cost of legal representation cannot be recovered from the unsuccessful party. ‘Litigants in person’ are rare outside the county courts and magistrates’ courts.
Even small county court cases can involve difficult points of law in which an unrepresented litigant will be at a disadvantage against a professional opponent. Cases which are most suited to litigants in person are those which turn largely on questions of fact rather than of law, such as minor traffic offences being tried in a magistrates’ court.
Legal page last ppdated on December 14, 2020