Hearsay.

The general rule with respect to hearsay evidence is that a witness is not allowed to repeat in court what there were told by a third party, if the reason for presenting the evidence is to prove the truth of the contents of the third party statement. It does not matter, how relevant the contents of statement are- its use is inadmissible if the person who made the statement is not there to give evidence to the court as to what he/she said.

Section 27 of the Courts of Justice Act states that at a hearing, a Small Claims Court judge may admit and act on any oral testimony ,documents , or other thing so long as it is relevant and not unduly repetitious, regardless of whether that evidence would be admissible in any other court. 

Any statutory rules with respect to evidence ( as set out in the Ontario Evidence Act) must be complied with s.27(3) and 27(4). In other words, in Small Claims Court, a hearsay evidence is admissible. The judge hearing the matter must decide how much weight, or credibility, to give the hearsay evidence. 

Section 27(5) provides that a copy of a document or other thing may be admissible if the trial judge is satisfied as to its authenticity.

The relaxed approach to evidence is in keeping with the general mandate of Small Clams Court to provide a forum where parties may have their proceedings resolved in a just, speedy. inexpensive manner. Where comparatively modest sums of money are involved, unsophisticated or self- represented parties should be able to present their case without being obliged to master complex rules of evidence.

Who may represent a party in a smal claims court?

Section 26 of the Court of Justice Act provides that a party may be represented in a proceeding be a person authorised under the Law Society Act to represent the party. However, if the person is not licensed under the Law Society Act, the court may exclude that person from appearing on behalf of a party if the  court finds that the unlicensed person is not competent to properly represent the party or does not understand and comply with the duties and responsibilities of an advocate.

Example of licensed persons are lawyer and paralegals. Lawyer are the persons who have been called to the Bar of Ontario and are licensed to practise law in Ontario. Paralegals are non-lawyers agents who are licensed to provide legal services to clients for fee in Ontario.

Non-licensees may provide legal services to the public if they fall within any of the exemptions set out in By-Law4.s.30:

1. An individual who is employed by a single employer that is not a licensee or a licensee firm, who provides legal services only for and on behalf of the employer, and does not provide and legal services to any person other that the employer.

2. A law student who volunteers in or is completing a clinical education course at a student legal aid services society, provides legal services through the clinic's designated community only, and acts under the direct supervision of a lawyer.

3. Any individual whose profession or occupation does not include the provision of legal services or the practise of law: who provides legal services only occasionally for or on behalf of a related person , a friend, or a neighbour: and does not receive any form of compensation or benefit for providing those legal services.

Small Claims Court

Small Claim Court is a civil trial court. In Ontario, Small Claims Court is a division of the Superior Court of Justice.  

Unlike the Ontario Court of Justice and the Trial Division of the Superior Court of Justice, Small Claims Court has no criminal or quasi-criminal jurisdiction .

Jurisdiction-is a court area of legal authority. 

Small Claims court hears civil actions only-that is actions in which one party sues another party for some form of private relief. In Small Claims Court, the relieve sought is usually money. Small Clams Court also has jurisdiction to make orders for the return of property. 

For legal purposes, an action is a proceeding brought in a court. The persons involved in the action or proceeding are called the parties to the action. Parties to a civil action are also known as litigants because they are involved in civil litigation.  

The party who commence the action is called the plaintiff. The party who defends the action is called the defendant. There might be multiple plaintiffs, or co-plaintiffs, in an action, so long as relieve they are seeking from the defendant is base on a common set of facts or issues. There might be multiple defendants, or co-defendants, in an action, if the plaintiff has reason to believe that one or more persons may be liable for the relieve sought.

Indictable offences, summary convictions, hybrid offences.

Crimes are described as treasons, felonies and misdemeanors. Crimes also referred to us as following:

Indictable offences are serious offences such as aggravated assault. 

Summary convictions are less serious offences such as common assault, theft under a certain amount. 

Hybrid offences include a wide range of offences that might be designated indictable or summary conviction offences at the option of the Crown. 

Depending on whether an accused is charged with summary conviction or indictable offence, he or she has a number of trial options.

Jurisprudence

Jurisprudence means the philosophy and science of law. The word is derived from Latin and has two parts:

juris, meaning "of right" or "of law" and prudence, which refers to being skilled or learned in law.  

Today, jurisprudence embraces all aspects of legal thought and is used in the study of legal principles, theories, concepts, institutions and the historical development upon which our law is bases.  

The law sometimes been compared to one of the great pyramids of Egypt. Created by humans, a pyramid is imposing, and inspiring from the outside. There is uncertainty and speculation regarding the process of its creation. It appears impenetrable and complex, yet as you move inside the structure, it reveals more and more of the secrets of the history, society, and believe of the people responsible for it.    

It might be useful to visualize jurisprudence as though you were looking down on a pyramid and viewing all the different aspects that make up the law.  By studying these different but integrated parts, it is possible to better understand the law. Jurisprudence ensures that changes to our laws are made with careful consideration and are informed by the insights of the legal writers, law-makers, and scholars of the past.

Categories of Law: substantive, procedural; public, private.

Knowing the law and how it functions allow us to structure our lives as productive and accepted members of the community and to predict the consequences of our conduct. In order to play the game, we must know the rules.

Law consists of rules with different but intersecting functions. The primary categories are substantive and procedural laws.  

Substantive law establishes not only the rights an individual has in society but also the limits on his or her conduct (rights to vote, to own property etc.,) 

Procedural law determines how the substantive law will be enforced (rules governing arrests, investigation, rules of governing court procedures etc.,)  

Law can also be distinguished by its public or private function.  

Public law includes constitutional law that determines how the country governed and the laws that affect an individual's relationship with government, including criminal law and regulations created by government agencies. 

Private law involves the rules that govern our personal, social and business relations, which are enforced by one person suing another in a private civil action.

Definitions for "actus reus" and "mens rea".

Actus reus (Latin)-means "guilty act".  

Mens rea (Latin)-means "guilty mind".

The mentioned above two components needed for a conviction.  

For example:  

Assault is committed when a person intentionally touches another without consent. Proof of physical contact without consent is the actus reus of the offence: whether or not it was done intentionally is the mens rea component.