SMALL CLAIMS: MARKET REALITIES

Many jurisdictions worldwide have small claims courts or simplified procedures to deal with small claims. 1 From a legal standpoint, to qualify under the definition of ‘small claim’ the monetary value of a claim is considered. The maximum pecuniary threshold varies from one jurisdiction to another and is determined by the economic circumstances of a country. 2 Small claims are numerous and often tedious. Most of these claims require time but not such a high intellectual knowledge in law and normally a small claim case does not involve complex legal issues. Above all, they tend to be replicas of each other. Basically, they are just time and money consuming for the judicial system leading to considerable court backlogs. 3 Nevertheless, small claims are important since their creditors are mainly consumers. Many of these consumers are ordinary citizens that belong to low-income categories of society.