Minor Civil Claims

A Minor Civil Claim is an application about:

disputes up to $6000
various neighbourhood dispute matters (those based on trespass or nuisance)
minor statutory proceedings, which include applications under the following legislation:

Fences Act 1975 (SA);

Second-hand Vehicle Dealers Act 1995 pt 4;

Second-hand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act 1996 (SA) s 11(8);

Building Work Contractors Act 1995 (SA) pt 5;

Retail and Commercial Leases Act 1995 (SA) (applications for $12 000 or less); and

any other proceeding declared by a particular statute to be a minor statutory proceeding.

See Magistrates Court Act 1991 (SA) s 3(1) and (2).

In a minor civil claim, a lawyer normally cannot represent a party at the trial (although they can be involved in all of the preliminary steps leading up to the trial) and the procedures at trial are not as formal as claims in the General Division.

Some examples of minor civil claims include:

motor vehicle property damage claims (see 'Property damage' and the Motor Vehicle Accident Kit)
claims for money owed (see 'Debt')
neighbour disputes (see 'Neighbours')
Fences Act 1975 applications (see 'Fences' and the Fences and the Law booklet)
strata and community title matters (see 'Strata titles' and the Strata and Community Titles booklet)
an application under section 61 of the Associations Incorporation Act 1985 on the basis that an association has engaged, or proposes to engage, in conduct that is oppressive or unreasonable (see 'Disputes')

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Mediation : Last Revised: Tue Oct 16th 2012
The content of the Law Handbook is made available as a public service for information purposes only and should not be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice. See Disclaimer for details. For free and confidential legal advice in South Australia call 1300 366 424.