Q: I am in a dispute with my neighbour over hay bales that he bought from me.
They have already been delivered and fed, but now there is an argument over quantity, quality and of course, price. I have the documentation to support my position, but my neighbour will not pay me what I am asking. Is it worth it to take it to court?
A: Disputes such as this can be resolved through small claims court, which is set up within the Civil division of the Saskatchewan Provincial Court. Claims in that court can be as much as $20,000.
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The Saskatchewan courts system has an excellent website at www.sasklawcourts.ca. In the small claims court section of the website, there are details about the process, commencing the claim, pursuing the claim in court and collecting the judgment if successful in court.
A small claims matter begins by sending a demand letter to the person with whom you have the dispute. In most cases, you will be asking for a certain amount of money. The court clerk will l often want to see a copy.
The claim can actually be drawn up at the court office with the assistance of the clerk.
You will be given instructions on how to serve the claim document, called a small claims summons and a date will be set for the case management or pre-trial conference.
in recent years a case management feature has been added to the small claims process because mediation and discussion with a judge can often lead to settlement of a dispute
That involves both parties coming to the court, bringing documents upon which they intend to rely, and sitting with a judge to see if settlement is possible, or at least to define the issues that will have to go to trial.
If it appears that settlement is likely, the judge may reconvene for another effort at settlement.
The trial is held as a usual provincial court trial, with sworn evidence and a provincial court judge presiding. However, an effort is made to keep the proceedings as informal as possible.
The small claims process generally takes a number of months from the time of issuing the claim to getting a decision at court if a trial is necessary.
However, it is a relatively inexpensive mechanism for resolving disputes of $20,000 or less, without the necessary formal steps that are involved in a Court of Queen’s Bench action.
Although some people choose to be represented by lawyers in the small claims process, it is set up so that individuals may navigate the process without the assistance of counsel.
