A NEW LOOK AT AN OLD QUESTION – PRECISELY WHERE DOES A CAUSE OF ACTION BASED ON CONTRACT OR DELICT “ARISE” IN THE CASE OF CIVIL CLAIMS IN THE MAGISTRATES’ AND SMALL CLAIMS COURTS?

One of the chief jurisprudential considerations of the new South Africa must be access to justice. Whilst various possibilities for the realization of this imperative are aired periodically, the principles on which the civil jurisdiction of the courts is based are seldom considered in this regard. However, complex and arcane rules of jurisdiction can place what this article argues to be unfair and largely pointless limitations on a plaintiff, particularly in respect of magistrates’ and small claims courts’ actions. Section 28(1)(d) of the Magistrates’ Courts Act, for example, which confers jurisdiction on a court in relation to the locality of the cause of action, can proveparticularly problematic in the case of claims based on contract. Jurisdiction cannot be conferred under this provision unless every “element” of the contract – offer, acceptance, performance and/or breach, has occurred within the same magisterial district. This article examines the many practical problems which arise as a result, as well as various interpretations of the existing case law, which may serve to alleviate these problems to a certain extent. The authors conclude, however, that legislative reform may be the only way in which to truly solve the many dilemmas which arise in practice.

The Legal Policy of Judicial Power: The Idea of Implementation of Small Claim Courts in Religious Courts

Religious Court is a judicial environment under the Supreme Court as a perpetrator of judicial power independent of organizing religious court to enforce the law and justice. The implementation of a small claim court in religious courts following simple, quick, and low-cost principles. The Small Claims Court is a simple judicial mechanism outside of the regular judicial mechanisms to resolve disputes quickly and cost lightly. The purpose of this study was to determine the meaning of the principle of fast, simple, and low cost and the legal politics of applying a simple lawsuit in a religious court. This type of research is normative legal research with a statutory approach and a conceptual approach. The technique of analyzing legal materials uses prescriptive. The study results found that the principle of simple, fast, and low cost in religious courts must meet the expectations of justice seekers who always want a speedy, fair, and low-cost trial. Applying the principle of a simple, fast, and low-cost justice has an intrinsic value of justice, inseparable from the service function. The legal politics of implementing a small claims court in a religious court is a breakthrough step, the proceedings are also fast and inexpensive, decided by a single judge, and the trial mechanism is simple So that implementation of Small Claims Court will be able to help the dispute burden in religious courts.Keywords: legal policy; small claim court, religious court.Abstrak: Peradilan Agama adalah lingkungan peradilan di bawah Mahkamah Agung sebagai pelaku kekuasaan kehakiman yang mandiri menyelenggarakan peradilan agama untuk menegakkan hukum dan keadilan. Penyelenggaraan sidang gugatan kecil di pengadilan agama menganut asas sederhana, cepat, dan murah. Small Claims Court adalah mekanisme peradilan sederhana di luar mekanisme peradilan biasa untuk menyelesaikan sengketa dengan cepat dan biaya ringan. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengertian asas cepat, sederhana, dan biaya rendah serta politik hukum penerapan gugatan sederhana di pengadilan agama. Jenis penelitian ini adalah penelitian hukum normatif dengan pendekatan perundang-undangan dan pendekatan konseptual. Teknik analisis bahan hukum menggunakan metode preskriptif. Hasil penelitian menemukan bahwa asas sederhana, cepat, dan biaya rendah dalam peradilan agama harus memenuhi harapan para pencari keadilan yang selalu menginginkan peradilan yang cepat, adil, dan berbiaya rendah. Penerapan asas peradilan sederhana, cepat, dan berbiaya rendah memiliki nilai keadilan yang hakiki, tidak terlepas dari fungsi pelayanan. Politik hukum pelaksanaan peradilan gugatan kecil di pengadilan agama merupakan langkah terobosan, proses beracara juga cepat dan murah, diputuskan oleh hakim tunggal, dan mekanisme persidangan sederhana Sehingga pelaksanaan peradilan gugatan kecil akan dapat membantu beban sengketa di pengadilan agama.Kata Kunci: kebijakan hukum; small claim courts; pengadilan agama.

SPECIAL RULES OF PROCEDURE IN CIVIL AND COMMERCIAL DISPUTES OF SMALL VALUE

The paper presents legal provisions, attitudes of court practice and opinions of legal science on special procedure in litigation on small claims. The concept, history and significance of the small dispute are explained. The issues concerning the census, ie the threshold value of the subject matter of the dispute on which the application of this special type of procedure depends, were especially considered. The problem of a large number of proceedings in small disputes, the value of which is so low that the mechanism of judicial protection should not be initiated, was pointed out, as well as the necessity of prescribing a minimum threshold for the admissibility of a lawsuit. On the other hand, too high a prescribed threshold in small value disputes does not correspond to the economic strength of citizens, which leads to a reduction in the quality of judicial protection in disputes that are of great importance to the party. Then, the most important specifics of the small dispute were analyzed, which are manifested in the consequences of the absence of the parties from the main hearing, as well as in the limitation of the grounds of appeal by excluding the principle of beneficium novorum. The procedural-legal significance of the absence of the plaintiff is presented, which is reflected in the occurrence of the fiction of withdrawing the lawsuit. Also, the conditions for passing a verdict due to absence as a consequence of the defendant's absence from the main hearing, which is based on the fiction of admitting the facts, were analyzed. It was pointed out that the decision resolving a small value dispute cannot be challenged due to an erroneously or incompletely established factual situation, but only due to an absolutely significant violation of the provisions of civil procedure and due to incorrect application of substantive law. Finally, proposals for amending the law were given, in order to facilitate the application of procedural norms and increase the efficiency of the procedure.

De la o factură de electricitate la supremația dreptului european: astfel s-a născut doctrina Costa c. Enel

Whilst Costa vs. ENEL is the locus classicus for most accounts of the primacy of European law, the story of that lawsuit is still relatively unknown. What drove Flaminio Costa to sue his electricity provider over a bill of as little as ₤1.925 (about €22 in 2020)? Why did the Small-claims Court of Milan decide to involve both the Italian Constitutional Court and the European Court of Justice in such a „petty” lawsuit? Why did those two courts hand down such different rulings? How did the lawsuit end when it came back from Luxembourg? Relying upon previously undisclosed court documents and interviews with some of the actors involved, this paper seeks to shed some light on the less-known aspects of the Costa v ENEL lawsuit, against the background of electricity nationalization in Italy at the height of the Cold War, and to assess the contribution of that lawsuit and of its „architect”, Gian Galeazzo Stendardi, to the approfondissement of the doctrine of primacy of European law.

9. Starting Your Court Action and Serving It on the Defendant

This chapter deals with the procedural steps, considerations, and issues that need to be addressed when commencing proceedings. These include the ‘tracks’ created by the Civil Procedure Rules (the small claims track, the fast track, and the multi-track). It details the documents needed to issue proceedings. These include parties and joinder and service provisions.

16. Disclosure and Inspection

This chapter considers the definition of ‘disclosure’, its purpose, its extent, and the process whereby it is implemented. It also looks at other types of disclosure and the times at which such disclosure may take place—some of which may be before litigation has been commenced. The formal provisions for disclosure are contained in the Civil Procedure Rules 31 and the accompanying Practice Direction. The formal disclosure rules apply to cases in the fast track and the multi-track. They do not automatically apply to the small claims track. Disclosure has been much in the legal press recently, and the new draft disclosure rules are discussed.

European Small Claims Procedure in Slovakia

The paper focuses on the peculiarities of the European Small Claims Procedure and the application of this mechanism in the Slovak Republic. The main provisions of the European Union Regulation (EC) No. 861/2007 (in full Regulation (EC) No. 861/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 July 2007 establishing a European Small Claims Procedure), which introduces this procedure, are investigated, in particular the stages of consideration of the case from the submission of the application by the applicant to the execution of the court judgment and the possibility of appeal. Particular attention is paid to the provisions of the Contentious Civil Procedure Code of the Slovak Republic, which regulates the procedural actions during consideration of small cases, which are not regulated by the above-mentioned European Union Regulation (EC) No. 861/2007. The practical component is analysed on the basis of court cases considered by courts of the first instance in Slovakia. The problematic issues that arise during the application of the European Small Claims Procedure are highlighted.