Study On The Small Claims Procedure

The new civil procedure law takes the small claims procedure as a new systemintroduced in china.But in its establishment,leaders emphasis on the court from thestandpoint of the trial,in order to ease the pressure to deal with the problem of manycases as the main goal.The small claims procedure from literal understanding is abouta little money of litigation procedure,in fact,this is only one aspect of its features,anddon’t realize what small claims procedure really means.The small claims procedurehas two meanings.From the broad sense,it has little difference from the summaryprocedure,only in the case of small amount.But this article is discussing the lawsuit ina narrow sense,taking it as an independent procedure.However,the current legislationdoes not emphasis on the value of it,and takes it as a affiliate of summaryprocedure.In fact,besides the value of efficiency,the small claims procedure alsoincludes the value of equal protection of the parties"accessing to justice",making upthe deficiency of formal justice in protection.Therefore,we need to re-examine thesmall claims procedure from the basic idea.Only if we have a profound understandingof the basic idea of small claims procedure,we can recognize whether there is a needto set up this system in modern China,and how to perfect current legislation.In theauthor’s opinion the value of small claims procedure should include six aspects:first,itis convenient for the masses closing to the administration of justice,the realization ofjudicial popularization.Second,the institution of proceedings adapts to the nature ofcases.Third,respecting the status of the parties.Fourth,respecting the right of theparties to choose the procedure.Fifth,the balance between efficiency andfairness.Sixth,promoting the cases "split-flow".handling simple cases in fast speed,handling complex cases seriously.The division of cases are specialization,andefficiency of the trial will naturally increase,the quality of trial will beguaranteed.Although the small claims procedure has been set up,scholars are stilldebating.The necessity of this small litigation system is very important.The authortries to analysis the system in the view of our country,discussing its validity and feasibility.Current legislation is not enough to deny the system itself,this is only amisunderstanding of the basic idea of the small claims procedure.Therefore,we shouldhold a positive attitude towards the small claims procedure.Finally,the author putforward some ideas trying to improve the current legislation.In the author’s opinion,the main idea of the small claims procedure should be setup for parties.The system is not only necessary,but also feasible.But leaders emphasison the court from the standpoint of the trial,in order to ease the pressure to deal withmany cases as the main goals.In a single case,it does help to improve the efficiency ofthe proceedings,promoting the cases"split-flow".However,without this litigationsystem,disputes will be excluded from the court,the pressure of the court will beless.But the introduction of this system,it is convenient for the masses closing to theadministration of justice.Therefore,setting up the system from the perspective of thecourt is wrong and is easy to cause the alienation.For one-final trial,many scholarscriticized this.And many opponents are opposed to establishing the small claimsprocedure for this reason.But one-final trial is not small claims procedure’s rightconnotation,this is only a specific consideration.One-final trial in some extentcontributes to distributing the cases,the parties may pay more attention to themediation,leading the small claims procedure has an effect of judicial ADR.But theabsolute one-final trial is not conducive to the protection of the parties especially thedefendant.Therefore,the author suggests that,on one hand,we should draw on theexperience of two-final trial system from the western developed countries,on theother hand,giving the parties the choice of procedure in some extent,in order to avoidthe mandatory application.