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When the judge makes the final decision about your case it is called the judgment. The judge may give judgment at the end of the case or the judge may reserve giving judgment. In Small Claims Court if the judge reserves judgment, the judgment will be mailed to the parties at a later date. Make sure the court has your current mailing address. In the Court of King’s Bench the Registrar will notify the parties or their lawyers that a decision has been made.
In Small Claims Court if a judge orders one party to pay money or take other action such as returning goods to another party, the judge may include a timetable for complying with that order. If a judgment doesn't include a timetable, any party can ask the judge to establish one. Timetables can state that the judgment must be complied with immediately or by a certain date. Where payment of money is involved, the timetable may set out a schedule for instalment payments. If these terms are not complied with the entire amount owing becomes due immediately. A party may apply to the court for a Summons to change a timetable.
In Small Claims Court each side will receive a Certificate of Judgment along with the judgment. A Certificate of Judgment will be given whether the case was settled in a case management conference or after a trial.
In our legal system, courts (and in some situations juries) are responsible for deciding the facts of the case. To understand what happened, evidence must be presented to the court. Courts must then act as fact-finders to determine what evidence is to be believed and what it means. Once the facts are established, the courts must apply the law to the facts of the case. In doing so, courts will consider statutes, common law and precedent.
Laws can originate from different sources. While statutes (federal, provincial or municipal) are written laws created by a legislative body, some law is based on accepted civil duties, such as not harming another person or their property. When there are no statutes setting out an area of the law it is largely defined by a collection of decisions made by judges. This body of law is called the common law.
Laws, whether in a statute or part of the common law, are subject to interpretation. If the law has been interpreted in one way by a court in a previous case this can give guidance to a court hearing another case. It can also help lawyers advise their clients what a judge is likely to decide in a similar situation. In some cases courts are bound by how other courts have interpreted a law. In our judicial system lower courts generally must follow higher court decisions.
Suppose a city wished to have a park where its citizens could spend time enjoying nature in a peaceful, safe place. To help do this the city council passed a law stating “No team sports may be played in the park.” While the law may seem clear enough at first, questions may arise in certain situations. Would the law apply to four people throwing a Frisbee, a relay team practicing for a track meet, or a group of children playing tag? It might not be easy to decide. If there was an earlier case in which a judge had ruled that young children’s informal games are not “team sports,” that decision would be a precedent. If the decision was of a higher court the court would be bound by the precedent. Otherwise the decision would simply offer guidance.
After hearing the evidence the court makes findings about the facts of the case. It is common for a court to hear conflicting versions of what happened. There are rules that form the basis for a court determining the facts of the case.
In civil cases the plaintiff must prove their case on what is called a balance of probabilities. This means that they must satisfy the court that it is more likely than not that their version of what happened is true.
In deciding whether a party has proved their claim on a balance of probabilities the judge will consider and weigh all of the admitted evidence. This does not mean that a judge must accept all of your evidence or that of the other party. The judge may not accept some or all of the evidence presented by a witness or in a document, for a variety of reasons, including that...
Costs are money the judge orders one party to pay the other. Costs are typically awarded at the conclusion of the trial to the successful party but can be awarded to any party. In some circumstances they can be awarded before the case is concluded. For example in Small Claims Court costs can be awarded any time against a party that without reasonable excuse fails to attend or prepare for any stage of the proceeding or any party that purposely delays the proceeding to increase the other party’s costs.
In Small Claims Court costs can be awarded for things like filing fees, costs of serving documents or witness fees. Parties must bring receipts to prove the amounts of these costs. Costs cannot be awarded for lawyer-related expenses in Small Claims. As well as these costs the judge can order one party to pay the other party additional costs after taking into account:
The amount that can be awarded based on these factors cannot be more than the greater of $200 or 10% of the amount the successful party was awarded.
In the Court of King’s Bench costs can be determined by the Tariff of Costs and awarded to the successful party but judges also have the discretion to order costs in a different amount and/or to another party. When deciding on costs the court can consider:
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