INTRODUCTION

The Chief Judge of Lagos State, Honourable Justice Opeyemi Oke has inaugurated the Small Claims Courts as part of efforts to fast-track justice delivery in commercial disputes involving small claims. The Chief Judge issued a practice direction to that effect. The Practice Direction applies in the Magistrate Courts designated as Small Claims Courts and by the High Court, when sitting over appeals from the Small Claims Courts. The small claims procedure was established to provide easy access to an informal, inexpensive and speedy resolution of simple debt recovery disputes in the Magistrate Courts.

Some of the Key Highlights include:

A. Commencement of Action:

The jurisdiction of the Lagos State Small Claims Court (LSSCC) is activated where the Claimant or one of the Claimants resides or carries on business in Lagos State, the Defendant or one of the Defendants resides or carries on business in Lagos State, the cause of action arose wholly or in part in Lagos State; the claim is for a liquidated monetary demand in a sum not exceeding N5,000,000 (Five Million Naira), excluding interest and costs, and the Claimant has served a letter of demand on the Defendant.[1]

This innovation can be compared with the Small Claims Track of United Kingdom (UK). In the UK, a small claims track is used for any claim which has a financial value of not more than £10,000[2] (N4,807,595.84)[3] subject to the special provisions about claims for personal injuries and housing disrepair claims, any claim for personal injuries which has a financial value of not more than £10,000 where the claim for damages for personal injuries is not more than £1,000 (N480,931.42), and any claim which includes a claim by a tenant of residential premises against his landlord for repairs or other work to the premises where the estimated cost of the repairs or other work is not more than £1,000 and the financial value of any other claim for damages is not more than £1,000).[4]

Action at the Lagos Small Claims Court is commenced upon the Claimant completing a Small Claims Complaint Form and the Registrar issues a summons if satisfied that the requirement for commencement of an action has been met.[5] The Assistant Chief Registrar or any person in charge of the Small Claims Registry shall cause the Claim to be marked “Qualified for Small Claims” and direct the Applicant to pay appropriate filing fees.[6] The Administrative Magistrate shall within 24 hours of receipt of the case files assign the Small Claims files to a Magistrate of the Small Claims Court.

The Summons is then served by Sheriff of the Small Claims Court within seven (7) days of filing. Upon service, the Sheriff of the Small Claims Court shall file an Affidavit of service within 2 days of service[7] or file an Affidavit of Non-Service if unable to serve the Summons on the Defendant within the time specified.[8] The Claimant in such a position may apply for an Order of substituted service of the Summons on the Defendant.

B.  Defence/Counterclaim:

The Defendant upon service is required to file his Defence/Admission or Counterclaim within Seven (7) days of service.[9] The Practice Direction makes provision for counterclaim for liquidated money demand not exceeding N5,000,000.00 (Five Million Naira);[10] counter claim for liquidated money demand exceeding N5,000,000.00 (Five Million Naira) but not more than N10,000,000.00 (Ten Million Naira) (excluding interest and costs), (which is the limit of the general jurisdiction of the Magistrate Court).[11]

However, if the Defendant has a counterclaim that exceeds the general jurisdiction of the Magistrate Court, the Defendant may file the counterclaim, provided that any Judgment in the Defendant’s favour will be limited to the general jurisdiction of the Magistrates’ Courts.[12] The Defendant in this case is deemed to have abandoned the excess of the counterclaim.[13] The Claimant may also file a reply to the Defendant(s) Defence and Counter-claim within 5 days of service of the Defendant(s) Defence and Counter-claim.

C.  Dispute Resolution:

Amicable settlement of the dispute among the parties is encouraged; however, the process of mediating and facilitating amicable settlement of the dispute among the parties shall not exceed seven (7) days.[14] The entire hearing period shall not be more than thirty (30) days from the first date of hearing, inclusive of the seven (7) days for amicable settlement.[15] The time frame for hearing is similar to that of UK. Also, the UK Civil Procedure Rules provides that parties may be referred to the Small Claims Mediation Online Service.[16]

D.  Representation:

The Lagos Practice Direction provides that parties may represent themselves at the proceedings in the Small Claims Court. Partnerships and Registered Companies can be represented by a Partner, Company Secretary or any other Principal Officer of the Partnership or Company[17], while the UK Civil Procedure Rules includes lawyers and lay representatives in its list of representatives at the court hearing.[18] It is worthy to note that in UK, parties are usually unable to recover their legal costs, regardless of who wins or loses. For this reason, most individuals and businesses involved in small claims deal with them without legal representation.[19]

E.  Judgment:

Under the Practice Direction, judgment is to be delivered fourteen (14) days of the completion of hearing.[20] The entire period of proceedings from filing till judgment shall not exceed sixty (60) days.[21] However, the judgment of the Court is not invalidated by reason of the entire proceedings of the court having exceeded sixty (60) days.[22] The Defaulting party is mandated to comply with the judgment with fourteen (14) days of delivery of such judgment.[23]

F. Appeals:

Pursuant to Article 14 of the Practice Direction, LSSCC, appeals from the Small Claims Court shall lie to the Fast Track Division of the High Court; the whole Appellate Process from the assignment of the Appeal to Judgment shall not exceed thirty (30) days. While in UK, an appeal from a judgment in the small claims track is an application to a circuit judge in the County Court to overturn the judgment or order (or part of the judgment or order) within 21 days of delivery of the judgment.[24]

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, with the introduction of the Small Claims Court, disputes involving relatively small amounts of money will be expeditiously dealt with, rather than be left to linger in the Court’s docket for inordinate lengths of time.  Limiting the period of proceedings to 60 days will accelerate the pace of justice in our legal system. It is a great improvement in our jurisprudence.

Footnotes:

[1] Article 2 Practice Direction, Lagos State Small Claims Court (LSSCC) 2018

[2]Part 26, Rule 26 (6) UK Civil Procedure Rules (CPR).

[3] For conversion to Naira, one British Pound is equal to N480.93 as at 28 May 2018.

[4] Part 26, Rule 26 (1) & 27 (2) UK CPR.

[5] Article 2 (3) LSSCC.

[6] Article 3, Practice Direction, LSSCC 2018.

[7] Article 5 (2) LSSCC.

[8] Article 5 (4) LSSCC.

[9] Article 6 (1) LSSCC.

[10] Article 7 (1) LSSCC.

[11] Article 7 (2) LSSCC.

[12] Article 7 (3) LSSCC.

[13] Article 7 (4) LSSCC.

[14] Article 9 (1) LSSCC.

[15] Article 9 (6) LSSCC.

[16] Part 26, Rule 26 (4)A UK CPR.

[17] Article 10 LSSCC.

[18] Rule 27 (3.2) (1) of the UK Practice Direction.

[19] Part 27, Rule 27.14 UK CPR, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_claims_court.

[20] Article 12 (1) LSSCC.

[21] Article 12 (2) LSSCC.

[22] Article 12 (3) LSSCC.

[23] Article 13 (1) LSSCC.

[24] UK Practice Direction 52B.

DISCLAIMER: MCPHERSON BARRISTERS AND SOLICITORS, 2018
This document is intended only as a general discussion on the subject of this article. Please do not regard it as legal advice. We would be delighted to provide additional details or advice about specific queries, if required.

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