Jersey Law 29/2000
PETTY
DEBTS COURT
(MISCELLANEOUS
PROVISIONS) (JERSEY) LAW 2000
____________
A LAW to augment the
jurisdiction of the Petty Debts Court, to provide for certain rights of appeal
therefrom and for the transfer of actions between that Court and the Royal
Court and for connected purposes; sanctioned by Order of Her Majesty in Council
of the
11th
day of OCTOBER 2000
____________
(Registered
on the 20th day of October 2000)
____________
STATES
OF JERSEY
____________
The 16th day of May 2000
____________
THE STATES, subject to the sanction of Her Most
Excellent Majesty in Council, have adopted the following Law -
ARTICLE 1
Jurisdiction
of the Petty Debts Court
(1) Subject to paragraphs
(2) and (3) of this Article, the Petty Debts Court shall have jurisdiction in
all civil causes and matters where the claim (whether liquidated or
unliquidated), net of any interest claimed in respect thereof, does not
exceed £10,000.
(2) The Petty Debts Court
shall have jurisdiction in respect of any proceedings which may be brought in
the Royal Court to pronounce the cancellation (“résolution”) of a contract (other than a contrat passé devant Justice) of lease (“location”) of an immovable or any
interest in an immovable if the rent payable in respect of the immovable
assessed annually at the time of the institution of the proceedings does not
exceed £15,000.
(3) When exercising its
jurisdiction pursuant to paragraph (2) of this Article the Petty Debts Court
shall have unlimited jurisdiction in respect of any claim for arrears of rent.
(4) The States may by
Regulations -
(a) amend the monetary
amounts referred to in paragraph (1) or (2) of this Article; and
(b) amend the monetary
amounts referred to in Articles 1 and 5 of the Loi (1867) sur la
Cour pour le recouvrement de menues dettes, as amended,
so as to reflect any
amendment to the monetary amount referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article.
(5) When exercising its
jurisdiction in relation to any proceedings, the Petty Debts Court shall have
the same powers to grant relief as the Royal Court would have had if those
proceedings had been brought in the Royal
Court.
(6) Nothing in this Article
shall derogate from any powers conferred on the Petty Debts Court by or under
any other enactment.
ARTICLE
2
Transfer of actions
(1) At any stage in any
proceedings commenced in the Petty Debts Court, the Court may, either of its
own motion or on the application of any party to the proceedings, order the
transfer of the whole or any part of the proceedings to the Royal Court on such
terms as to costs or otherwise as it thinks proper, if it considers that -
(a) an important or complex
question of law or a complex question of fact is likely to arise;
(b) the claim exceeds, or
the damages claimed are likely to exceed, the jurisdiction of the Court; or
(c) it is otherwise in the
public interest to do so.
(2) At any stage in any
proceedings commenced in the Royal Court, the Court may, either of its own
motion or on the application of any party to the proceedings, order the
transfer of the whole or any part of the proceedings to the Petty Debts Court
on such terms as to costs or otherwise as it thinks proper, if it considers
that the action is or is likely to be within the jurisdiction of the Petty
Debts Court.
ARTICLE 3
Appeal
to the Royal Court
(1) If any party to any
proceedings in the Petty Debts Court is dissatisfied with the decision of the
Judge, he may, with the leave of the Petty Debts Court or the Bailiff, appeal
to the Royal Court
in such manner and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by Rules of
Court.
(2) On hearing an appeal,
the Royal Court
may draw any inference of fact and may -
(a) order a new hearing in
the Petty Debts Court on such terms as it thinks just;
(b) order any judgment to
be entered for any party; or
(c) make a final or other
order on such terms as it thinks proper to ensure the determination on the
merits of the real question in controversy between the parties.
(3) The determination of an
appeal by the Royal Court
shall be final and conclusive, and shall not be subject to appeal to any other
Court.
(4) This Article is without
prejudice to any right of appeal conferred by any other enactment or rule or
law.
ARTICLE
4
Consequential amendments and
repeals
(1) In Articles 1 and 5 of
the Loi (1867) sur la Cour pour le
recouvrement de menues dettes, as amended,
for the words
“deux mille cinq cents” there shall be substituted the words
“dix mille”.
(2) In Article 2(1)(c) of
the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Jersey)
Law 1967,
the words
“(other than sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (1) thereof)” shall be
deleted.
(3) The following
provisions are repealed -
(a) Articles 1 and 3 of the
Loi (1891) sur la Cour pour le
recouvrement de menues dettes, as amended;
(b) the Loi (1902) sur la Cour pour le recouvrement
de menues dettes (Appels), as amended;
(c) Article
7 of the Civil Proceedings (Jersey) Law 1956;
and
(d) Article 1 of the Loi (1984) sur la Cour pour le recouvrement
de menues dettes;
(e) Article 1(d)(ii),
Article 1(f) and Article 2(a) of the Loi
(1993) sur la Cour pour le recouvrement de menues dettes.
ARTICLE
5
Citation, commencement and
application
(1)
This Law may be cited as the Petty Debts Court (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Jersey) Law 2000 and shall come into force on such day as
the States may by Act appoint.
(2) Subject to paragraph
(3) of this Article, nothing in this Law shall apply to any proceedings
instituted prior to the commencement of this Law.
(3) Where all the parties
to any proceedings agree, Article 2 of this Law shall apply to those
proceedings notwithstanding they were instituted prior to the commencement of
this Law.
C.M.
NEWCOMBE
Deputy
Greffier of the States.