How have courts treated pleadings in small claims proceedings?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Lloyd Investments Ltd. v. Wireless2 Technologies Inc., 2007 BCSC 1679 (CanLII):
In that regard, Stansfield P.C.J. (now C.J.) made the following comments regarding Small Claims proceedings in Cappos v. Zurich Canada, [1996] B.C.J. No. 2552 (Prov. Ct. (Sm. Cl. Div.))(QL) at ¶15: It is the rule, rather than the exception, that pleadings in this court are, at best, inelegant. Frequently they are seriously deficient. If we dismissed every claim or defence which suffered for inadequate pleadings, our workload would be lightened considerably, but there would be a great deal of injustice to persons who have relied, at least implicitly, upon the assurance of the legislature that there will be provided to them an informal and accessible dispute resolution process. It must be remembered, though, that while the process is intended to be informal, the forum remains a court of law, constrained to apply the substantive law formally. [Emphasis added.]
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