Nunavut Small Claims Court
| Description | Overview of the Nunavut Small Claims Court. |
| Status | Permanent Implementation |
| Jurisdiction | Nunavut |
| Court | Small Claims Court, Nunavut Court of Justice |
| Body responsible | Nunavut Court of Justice |
| Subjects |
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| Timeline | |
| October 2007 | Small Claims Rules, forms and a manual came into effect |
| Publications | |
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| Development | |
| Nunavut Small Claims Court was created in October 2007. Prior to the implementation of the procedure for small claims, all civil suits were commenced through the Supreme Court Rules of the Northwest Territories. | |
| Purpose | |
| "[T]o provide for the just determination of small claims, and shall be liberally construed to ensure simplicity in procedure, fairness in administration and the elimination of unjustifiable expense and delay" (r.1.1). | |
| Description of reforms | |
| "Small Claims Court is a court of law, but it is not designed for lawyers. It's meant to be a "do-it-yourself" court, where ordinary people may handle their own cases, whichever side they are on" (Guide at 1). The Small Claims Rules are plain language rules designed for self-represented litigants. Litigants may file any form in English, French, Inuktitut or Inuinnaqtun and may use any of these languages in the proceedings. Registry staff at the Court is available to provide public information to the people coming to the front desk and in helping people complete their forms. The monetary jurisdiction has been set at $20,000. Small claims can be made for personal injuries suffered in a motor vehicle accident, debt, damage, or the recovery of goods or personal property. Small Claims Court does not handle landlord and tenant cases, libel and slander suits, cases involving the title to land, family law, malicious prosecution or false imprisonment, probate, or bankruptcy. The process is initiated by a Notice of Claim. Once a Notice of Claim and a Reply have been filed, the next step is mandatory mediation. Unless they have been exempted from mediation, parties will receive notice in the mail advising them where and when ti will be held and attendance is mandatory. If any issues remain unresolved after the mediation, the case proceeds to trial. No pre-trial examination of documents or discovery of witnesses is permitted without the Court's permission. Documents are admissible at trial only if they were brought to mediation, unless the Court orders otherwise. Expert reports or testimony are not admissible at trial, unless the Court orders otherwise. | |
| Revision History | |
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Submit update
If you have updates, changes, or additional information regarding this reform, please contact our Librarian, Brad Albrecht, at balbrecht@cfcj-fcjc.org
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URL
http://cfcj-fcjc.org/inventory/reform.php?id=132