All About Small Claims Courts
Small Claims courts are a crucial aspect of the Canadian Legal system that could even be relevant to you one day. Small Claims courts are were created to try and give the average Joe a cheap, simple way to settle any type of arguments involving property or finances, without necessarily having to know a whole lot about law. You do not need to know many legal terms and the case usually consists of you telling your story for the judge to make a decision. It is a court that was not designed for lawyers and matters are handled more independently, although it isn't against the rules to obtain help from lawyers inside or outside of court. Initially made in order to settle disputes using as little money as possible, there are certain limits to how much a person can claim for regarding compensation or damages. Although the limit may change from place to place the standard maximum you can sue for in small claims court is $10,000.00.
Firstly, In order to go to small claims court and sue someone you must first file a claim. To do this you must first make a claim explaining what has happened and second let the person being sued know about it and the claim is used to do both. The notice of claim document was made simple for people who are not lawyers and is the key to the entire case. You can get a notice of claim form at any small claims courts registry and the information required includes things like your name, the name of the person being sued, what has happened and what you are asking for. There are a few main different types of claims which include, a claim for money owed to the plaintiff, a loan that has not been repaid, failure to pay rent or failure to pay for services or work done. When filing a claim it is important to remember that you must file the claim either at the place where it occurred or nearest to where the defendant lives or works. To ensure the person being sued receives the document you must
Cited: Text - Grade 11 Law text Book Websites http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/courts/scc/ http://www.ag.gov.bc.ca/courts/civil/smallclaims/ http://www.ag.gov.bc.ca/courts/civil/smallclaims/guides/what_is_small_claims/ http://www.courts.ns.ca/SmallClaims/cl_info.htm http://www.sasklawcourts.ca/default.asp?pg=pc_div_small_claims