How long does a civil case take, and what does it cost?

The first question almost every claimant asks is when the case will finish. The honest answer is that there is no fixed timetable. It depends on the caseload of the court hearing it, how many witnesses each side calls, and whether the parties intend to fight or to settle. What can be set out with confidence is the sequence of steps and the points where cases usually stall.

A common misunderstanding is that filing a claim brings both sides before a judge for a decision. In fact the law lays down stages: service of the summons, the defence, examination of documents, the taking of evidence, and finally judgment. Each stage has its own deadlines, and when one slips the rest slip with it.

What are the stages of a civil case?

Knowing the sequence makes it possible to see where a matter has reached and how much remains before judgment.

• The claim is filed and the court fee paid. The court reviews the pleading and accepts it.
• The summons and a copy of the claim are served on the defendant. This step varies enormously. If the defendant has moved and cannot be found, the address must be traced and service attempted again, which is one of the largest single causes of delay.
• The defendant files a defence within the prescribed period. If none is filed the court may proceed in the defendant's absence.
• The court holds a settlement of issues or evidence-review hearing to fix the points in dispute and the trial dates. At this stage the court will usually ask whether the parties wish to mediate.
• Witnesses are heard for the claimant and then for the defendant. The number of hearing days depends on how many witnesses are called.
• The court fixes a date to deliver judgment.

Cases settled at mediation finish far sooner, because they skip the taking of evidence, which consumes most of the time. But once the court gives judgment on the agreed terms, both sides are bound by them and, as a rule, cannot appeal afterwards, so read every condition before signing.

What makes a case run long?

Most delay does not come from the court. It comes from matters within the parties' own control, which means preparation genuinely shortens the process.

• An incorrect address for the defendant, so service fails and must start again.
• Calling far more witnesses than the issues require, when the points actually turn on documents.
• Key documents held by a third party, requiring an order for their production.
• Repeated interlocutory applications, each of which the court must hear and rule on.
• Adjournments sought for illness or other commitments.
• Multiple parties, or third parties joined into the proceedings.

Once judgment is given at first instance the losing side may appeal, extending the overall timeline. An appeal must be lodged within a period running from the reading of the judgment. The highest court is not open to every case: leave must be granted before it will hear the matter, so a great many disputes end at the appellate stage.

What does a civil case cost?

The costs fall into two entirely separate categories. The first is the fees payable to the court and to state agencies, which are set by law. The second is the lawyer's fee, which is a matter of agreement between the client and the lawyer.

• The filing fee is calculated on the amount claimed: 2 per cent of the part up to fifty million baht, capped at two hundred thousand baht, plus 0.1 per cent of any part above fifty million. The firm's court fee calculator works out the figure for a specific claim.
• Claims with no money value, such as an order compelling performance of a contract or setting aside a transaction, attract a flat fee instead.
• Service fees and publication costs, charged according to distance and method.
• The cost of producing witnesses, and translation of any foreign-language documents.
• Execution fees, once you have won and need assets seized or attached.

A further filing fee is payable on appeal, and an appellant is generally required to deposit the costs that may be payable to the other side. Anyone contemplating a fight to the end should budget for the whole route, not only the first instance.

A party who cannot afford the fees may apply for exemption from court fees, the wording that replaced proceeding in forma pauperis in 2008. The court examines both the applicant's means and the apparent merit of the claim before ruling, and may grant the exemption in whole or in part. Filing the application does not guarantee it.

Is there a faster, cheaper route?

Not every dispute has to travel the full civil procedure. The law provides streamlined routes for certain categories.

• Claims below the statutory value threshold are treated as small cases, heard by an abbreviated procedure with a lower fee ceiling.
• Claims for payment resting on clear documents, where no real defence is expected, may qualify as undisputed matters and be decided more quickly.
• Disputes between a consumer and a business fall under consumer case procedure, where the consumer is exempt from court fees on filing.
• Before any claim is filed, the parties may ask the court to appoint a conciliator. If terms are agreed, the dispute never enters the litigation process at all.

What to decide before filing, not after

• Check the limitation period before anything else. If it has expired, every baht spent afterwards is wasted.
• Check whether the other side actually has assets that could be enforced against. A judgment that cannot be enforced is paper.
• Set the sum claimed on a defensible basis. Inflating it raises the filing fee for nothing and can later be used to question your good faith.
• Assemble the documents before filing, not on the eve of the hearing.
• Decide in advance where you could settle and where you could not. Knowing that boundary makes negotiation at court far quicker.

Litigation is a tool, not an objective. A claimant who decides with the timeline and the costs already in view can choose between pressing on and negotiating. A claimant who files first and thinks about it afterwards cannot.

This article sets out general principles and is not advice on any particular matter. Timeframes and fees vary with the type of case, the court seised and the facts. To understand how a specific dispute is likely to run, send the facts and documents you hold to the firm for review.