Monday, October 06, 2008 Branch 7 chosen as first ‘small claims court’
THOSE who want to claim damages worth less than P100,000 through civil suits will no longer need a lawyer and a long trial with the establishment of “small claims courts” in selected judiciaries all over the country last Oct. 1.
In Cebu, the first small claims court is Branch 7 of the Municipal Trial Courts in Cities (MTCC) presided by Judge Francisco Seville, Jr.
“This provides for the simple, inexpensive, and speedy disposition of a case,” Seville said in an interview.
He said most small court claims usually result from fault or negligence.
He said at least 80 percent of the cases pending before his sala are small claims, which mostly arise from unpaid loans and disputes within cooperatives.
The establishment of a small claims court provides that such cases be heard, tried and promulgated only within a day.
During the hearing, no lawyers are allowed, unless one is either the complainant or the defendant in the case.
Hands down
Whatever decision the judge hands down cannot be appealed anymore.
But if both parties fail to reach a settlement, the case gets referred to a pairing court, which in Cebu’s case, is MTCC Branch 8, which Seville also presides.
In an interview last Friday, Seville said the complainant must still follow the procedure in filing civil suits, with an additional form to be provided by the MTCC 7 clerk of court.
Though the absence of lawyers spares the complainant attorney’s fees, it does not exempt him from paying the regular filing fees, even if he is an indigent.
Once a small claims case is filed, the defendant is given ten days to submit an answer. This period is non-extendable.
The complainant and the defendant then appear before the judge on the scheduled hearing date, which may be postponed only once, but only if there is proof on one of the parties’ physical inability to appear in court.
Small claims cases are only for civil suits, or the civil aspect of criminal cases.
Seville said the trial period is from this month to March next year.
No small claims, so far, has been filed in Cebu yet.
Seville, a 2007 Judicial Excellence awardee as Outstanding Municipal Trial Court Judge, said he did not know why his court was chosen.
The small claims court is a project of the Supreme Court (SC) and the American Bar Association-Rule of Law Initiative.
It was Justice Josue N. Bellosillo, former SC senior associate justice, who first proposed the establishment of a small claims court in the country nine years ago. (KAB)
