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At the Hearing

On the day of your hearing, arrive at court at least half an hour before your case is due to commence. When you get to court, let the court co-ordinator know you have arrived. The co-ordinator will advise you which court room your matter will be heard in, and may be able to give you an indication of what time your matter will be heard.

At the hearing, the plaintiff will call witnesses to give evidence in support of the complaint. Witnesses will be required to make an oath or affirmation that the evidence that they shall give the court will be the truth. After each witness has given their evidence, the witness can be cross-examined by the defendant on issues raised in the evidence. The same procedure applies to the defendant once the plaintiff has closed their case. The court may not accept written statements as evidence.

After all witnesses have completed giving their evidence, the magistrate will consider arguments as to the law and make a judgment on the matter, based on the “balance of probabilities”, or the belief that one party’s argument is more probable, or convincing, than the other party’s.