Civil cases deal with disputes between individuals or organisations.
These cases are heard by the Koru’s Court and usually involve claims for compensation, enforcement of obligations or other legal remedies.
Filing a civil claim
Any person or entity may bring a civil claim against another person or entity.
Before filing a claim, the claimant must make a reasonable attempt to resolve the dispute outside the Court.
More about filing a civil claim.
Responding to a claim
Once a claim has been filed, the defendant will be notified.
The defendant normally has 14 days to submit a response to the Court.
Civil hearing
After receiving the response, the Court will schedule a hearing.
At the hearing:
- The claimant explains the claim
- The defendant responds
- Both parties may present evidence and arguments
Failure to attend
If a party does not respond or attend the hearing, the Court may issue a default judgement.
For example:
- If the defendant does not respond, the case may default in favour of the claimant
- If the claimant does not attend, the case may default in favour of the defendant
The Judge may decide otherwise if there was a reasonable excuse.
Standard of proof
Civil cases are decided on the balance of probabilities. This means the Judge decides what is most likely to have occurred.
Civil judgement
After hearing the case, the Judge will decide whether the claim is valid and issue a judgement consistent with the law.