The Small Claims Tribunal handles claims for money not exceeding HK$75,000 and the proceedings are quick and informal. Parties to the dispute are also not allowed to have any legal representation, though they can consult a lawyer before they attend the Tribunal. There are no rules on the presentation of evidence as strictly as most other courts.
Usual legal procedure of a case at the Small Claims Tribunal
Although the legal procedure at the Small Claims Tribunal is comparatively flexible than that at other courts, there is still a standard set of legal procedures that the judge and the parties to the dispute must follow:
- The claimant searches into the defendant’s particulars, file a Form 1 and Form 2, and pays the prescribed filing fee.
- After the defendant has received the claim:
- If they agree to pay whole or part of the amount claimed, they can pay into court the claimed amount and the claimant’s filing fee (before call-over and a statement of defence is filed) or apply to the Tribunal in writing before making a payment into court (after call-over or after a statement of defence is filed).
- If they agree to pay but ask for payment by instalments or time to pay, they must apply to the Tribunal at the call-over for payment by instalments or for time to pay.
- If they disagree with the whole or part of the claim but do not have any counterclaim, they should file a defence (a document that sets out whether the defendant disputes the amount of the claimant’s claim and/or liability) with the Tribunal Registry and send a copy of the defence to the claimant before the call-over date.
- If they disagree with the claim and have a counterclaim, they should file both a defence and a counterclaim (a counter-document that sets out the defendant’s separate and independent claim against the claimant for certain causes of action regarding the claim) with the Tribunal and send a copy of both documents to the claimant prior to the call-over date. It must be noted that the defendant also needs to pay a prescribed filing fee for filing their counterclaim.
- If they ignore the claim, the claimant may apply for judgment against the defendant if the claimant can satisfy the Tribunal of their claim and the hearing’s notice has been served on the defendant.
- Following the filing of the claimant’s claim and the defendant’s defence (and any counterclaim), the proceedings are generally divided into three stages:
- Call-over
- Mention hearing(s)
- Trial (which may include a pre-trial hearing)
- There may also be other subsidiary hearings (e.g. hearing for application to set aside or review the Tribunal’s award or order) depending on the progress and necessity of each case and whether the parties would appeal the Adjudicator’s decision.