South Australian Current Acts South Australian Current Acts38—Minor civil actions
(1) The following
provisions are applicable to the trial of a minor civil action:
(a) the
trial will take the form of an inquiry by the Court into the matters in
dispute between the parties rather than an adversarial contest between the
parties;
(b) the
Court will itself elicit by inquiry from the parties and the witnesses, and by
examination of evidentiary material produced to the Court, the issues in
dispute and the facts necessary to decide those issues;
(c) the
Court may itself call and examine witnesses;
(d) the
parties are not bound by written pleadings;
(e) the
Court is not bound by the rules of evidence;
(f) the
Court must act according to equity, good conscience and the substantial merits
of the case without regard to technicalities and legal forms.
(2) At or before the
trial of a minor civil action, the Court should explore any possible avenues
of achieving a negotiated settlement of the matters in dispute.
(3) After giving
judgment in a minor civil action, the Court—
(a)
should advise the unsuccessful party of his or her right to apply for review
of the proceedings by the District Court; and
(b)
should give the successful party any advice or assistance as to the
enforcement of the judgment that the Court considers appropriate in the
circumstances; and
(c) if
there is a judgment debtor who is present, should proceed immediately to
investigate his or her means of satisfying the judgment and to take any
further action that appears appropriate in view of the results of that
investigation.
(4) The following
provisions govern representation in minor civil actions:
(a)
representation of a party by a legal practitioner will not be permitted
unless—
(i)
another party to the action is a legal practitioner; or
(ii)
all parties to the action agree; or
(iii)
the Court is of the opinion that the party would be
unfairly disadvantaged if not represented by a legal practitioner;
(ab)
however, the Court may, in its discretion, permit representation of a party by
a legal practitioner at the hearing of an interlocutory application;
(b) if a
party to the action is a body corporate, the Court must, if the party seeks to
be represented by an officer or employee who is not a legal practitioner,
permit such representation;
(c) if a
person is subrogated to the rights of a party, the Court will permit that
person to appear in the proceedings on behalf of that party and to be
represented in the same way as if that person were a party;
(d) the
Court will permit a party, or a person subrogated to the rights of a party, to
be assisted by a person who is not a legal practitioner but only if that
person is not acting for fee or reward.
(5) In a
minor civil action costs for getting up the case for trial, or by way of
counsel fees, will not be awarded unless all parties were represented by
counsel, or the Court is of opinion that there are special circumstances
justifying the award of such costs.
(6) The District Court
(constituted of a single Judge) may, on the application of a party
dissatisfied with a judgment given in a minor civil action, review the matter.
(7) The following
provisions apply to such a review by the District Court:
(a)
subject to paragraph (ab), the right of a party to be represented by a legal
practitioner at the review will be determined in accordance with
subsection (4);
(ab) if,
in the case of a review that relates to a minor civil action in respect of a
transferred proceeding within the meaning of Part 3A of the
South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 , a party was
represented by a legal practitioner at the proceeding, then the party may be
represented by a legal practitioner at the review by the Court;
(b) the
Court may inform itself as it thinks fit and, in doing so, is not bound by the
rules of evidence;
(c) the
Court may, if it thinks fit, re-hear evidence taken before the
Magistrates Court;
(d) in
determining the matter, the Court may—
(i)
affirm the judgment; or
(ii)
rescind the judgment and substitute a judgment that the
Court considers appropriate; or
(iii)
if the review arises from a default judgment or summary
judgment, rescind the judgment and—
(A) substitute a judgment that the Court
considers appropriate; or
(B) remit the matter to the
Magistrates Court for hearing or further hearing;
(e) in
hearing and determining the review, the Court must act according to equity,
good conscience and the substantial merits of the case without regard to
technicalities and legal forms.
(8) A decision of the
District Court on a review is final and not subject to appeal.
(9) However, the
District Court may reserve a question of law arising in a review for
determination by the Court of Appeal which may determine the question and make
any consequential orders or directions appropriate to the circumstances of the
case.