These courts can be found in Australia, Brazil, Canada, England and Wales, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Greece, New Zealand, Philippines, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Nigeria and the United States.
The jurisdiction of small-claims courts typically encompasses private disputes that do not involve large amounts of money.
The routine collection of small debts forms a large portion of the cases brought to small-claims courts, as well as evictions and other disputes between landlords and tenants, unless the jurisdiction is already covered by a tenancy board.
A small-claims court generally has a maximum monetary limit to the amount of judgments it can award, often in the thousands of dollars/pounds.
'Court shopping'—where a plaintiff reduces the damage claim amount to have a trial in a court that otherwise does not have jurisdiction—is strictly forbidden in some states[vague].
Under some court rules, should the defendant not show up at trial and not have requested a postponement, a default judgment may be entered in favour of the plaintiff.
Similarly, equitable remedies such as injunctions, including protective orders, are seldom available from small-claims courts.
[1][2][3] Small claims are handled differently by each state and territory, with most relying on tribunals while others have a minor claims division of their respective magistrates court:[4] In Belgium, the justices of the peace (Dutch: vredegerecht, French: justice de paix, German: friedensgericht) function as the small claims courts in the country's judicial system; they stand at the bottom of the Belgian judicial hierarchy and only handle civil cases.
In addition, the justices of the peace have original jurisdiction over a number of matters irrespective of the disputed amount, such as cases involving the renting or leasing of real estate, evictions, easement, land consolidation, consumer credit or unpaid utility bills.
The justices of the peace also have original jurisdiction in certain aspects of family law, most notably legal guardianships for incapacitated seniors, and the involuntary commitment of the mentally ill to psychiatric facilities.
The small-claims procedure is simplified with no strict pleadings requirements and no formal discovery process, and parties' costs may be limited.
[32] Cases may also be heard by Deputy Adjudicators (Chinese: 暫委審裁官) appointed on a temporary basis by the Chief Justice.
[32] In practice, a number of Permanent Magistrates are assigned to sit as Adjudicators in the Small Claims Tribunal.
[32] At the call-over hearing, the Tribunal Officer will interview both parties, identify the issues in dispute and explore if a settlement can be reached.
[32] The rationale is that small claims should be resolved without incurring substantial expenses in retaining legal services and also that an unrepresented litigant should not fear the imbalance of power caused by a lawyer representing the other side.
[40] A party may also apply to the Small Claims Tribunal for leave for another person (who is not a lawyer) to act as their representative in conducting the case.
[32] The claimant bears the burden of proof and has the primary responsibility to prepare and produce evidence in support of their case.
[41] However, the Adjudicator is under a statutory obligation to inquire into any matter considered relevant to a claim, whether or not it has been raised by a party.
[32] The Small Claims Tribunal will decide how to receive evidence based on considerations of proportionality, costs and common sense.
[52] The Small Claims Tribunal has a discretion to award to the successful party any reasonable expenses necessarily incurred by and any loss of salary or wages suffered in attending the hearings.
[55] The Adjudicator is under a duty to analyse the material points in the evidence of the case and to give reasons as to why a particular conclusion or decision has been reached.
[31] When conducting the review of the decision/order, the Adjudicator may re-open and re-hear the claim wholly or in part, may call or hear fresh evidence, and may accordingly confirm, vary or reverse the decision/order.
However, in some cases, the High Court Judge may direct that the leave to appeal hearing take place inter partes (in the presence of all the parties, not just the applicant).
[66] If leave to appeal is granted, the appellant should file a Notice of Originating Motion and pay a fee of HK$1,045.
All the parties (who may be legally represented) will then attend the appeal hearing before a High Court Judge.
It is not clear if it was a world bank initiative or as a Lagos State Judiciary reform as the time of establishing the courts coincided with the PEBEC and world bank motive to improve the ease of doing business in Nigeria through seamless debt recovery court procedure.
It encompasses the routine collection of small debts, evictions and other disputes between landlords and tenants, as well as breach of contracts and simple torts.
[81] To institute a small claims matter, either the defendant or the claimant must be residing or doing business within the judicial division of the court.
[93] In Scotland small claims are handled by a process called simple procedure, subject to a limit of £5,000.
As such courts are open to the public, attendance at a few sessions may be useful to a person involved in a case, whether as plaintiff or defendant.