ABSTRACT
Legal enforcement is almost invariably waged by the county courts. The courts make up a system which is the ‘basic administrative unit of civil litigation’ (Glasser, undated), a system which was designed by the County Courts Act, 1846, to provide a cheap and efficient means of collecting small debts. 2 The definition of a small debt has become progressively more liberal and, in 1969, the four hundred courts have jurisdiction over almost all civil actions for sums of up to £500. Table 6.1 clearly demonstrates the pre-eminence of the county court in debt collection actions. County court actions started in 1964 https://www.niso.org/standards/z39-96/ns/oasis-exchange/table">
%
County Court: plaints entered
1,510,324
92·5
Queen's Bench and District Registries: writs issued
123,220
7·5
