The Main Phases of a Civil Lawsuit
A civil trial consists of two main phases: preparation and main hearing.
The main purpose of the preparation is to make sure that the case can be dealt with in a continuous main hearing. In the preparation, the following issues are established:
the demands of the parties and the grounds for these demands;
the issues that are in dispute between the parties;
the evidence that will be presented during the trial and what is intended to be proven on the basis of the evidence; and
are there any possibilities of settlement.
The main hearing begins with a summary of the results of the preparation. Then the parties present their evidence and give their closing arguments. In the end of the trial, the court hands down a decision. If none of the parties register their discontent with the decision by appealing to a court of appeals, the decision becomes final.
The party who initiates the lawsuit is called the plaintiff and the party against whom the lawsuit is filed is called the defendant.
Unless the court orders otherwise, the parties do not have to be present at the preparatory hearing or the main hearing but it is sufficient that their legal representatives are present. The trials are usually public, which means that the public has the right to be present. However, exceptions to this principle can be made, for example on the grounds of business secrets.