preview

Superior Court of Justice: Small Claims Court

Better Essays

Small claims court was established as an alternative dispute resolution forum. It is less expensive, faster and less formal than litigation. The increase in the jurisdictional limitations of Small Claims Courts have contributed to increase the caseloads in Small Claims, the popularity of the TV shows such as Judge Judy or Judge Brown also contributed to the caseload and peoples automatic action to fill cases. In order to clear the backlogs, in 1999 after a year of testing, Alberta Justice Minister of Alberta David Hancock made mediation a permanent part of the provincial civil court division. Based on the report, mediation helped to speed up the process. Cases were going to mediation within 5 weeks instead of 6 months just to get a court date. Alberta still incorporates mediation in their civil courts. Parties can choose to go to mediation or the courts can decide for them if they see fit. In 2004, research done in the U.K regarding mediation in Small Claims Court also indicated there is an increase satisfaction for parties and maximised efficiency in the use of judicial resources. What is the difference between Small Claims and Mediation? How would mediation help Small Claims Court? What are the limitations of such action? Are a few of the question that will be answered in this paper.
The origins of the Superior Court of Justice can be traced back to the 1790s. At that time, the court system was based on English common law and modelled after the English system. By the

Get Access