Educational articles on court procedures, legal strategy, jurisdiction guides, and how AI is transforming the legal industry.
A Hong Kong judgment can be sued on for 12 years (Cap. 347 s.4(4)), but from year six a writ of execution needs the court's leave and interest older than six years is lost. Judgment debts earn 8.000% simple from 1 October 2026; Small Claims awards earn the same.
Read moreMacau's small claims court takes claims up to MOP 100,000, not the MOP 50,000 an old government explainer still gives. One form, no lawyer, no deposit; a 15-day defence, a hearing within 20 days of being fixed, judgment on the spot and in principle no appeal. Then Form MB-1 if they still do not pay.
Read moreThe HK$200 fee most pages quote ended with the pilot scheme on 30 June 2022. Mediation for a Small Claims case is now arranged free by the Judiciary's office at West Kowloon. How to price an offer against the hearing, and how to make a settlement enforceable.
Read moreA Mareva injunction stops a debtor moving assets before judgment. You need a good arguable case, assets in Hong Kong and a real risk of dissipation, and you promise to pay the defendant's losses if the order was wrong. The four tests, the undertakings, the costs and the cheaper alternatives.
Read moreThe District Court lets you sue in person above HK$75,000, for a HK$630 writ fee. What changes is costs: the loser normally pays the winner's taxed costs. The stages, the free procedural help, and what you recover if you win without a lawyer.
Read moreA deposit your landlord will not return is a money claim. At HK$75,000 or less it goes to the Small Claims Tribunal for HK$20 to HK$120, with no lawyers. What a landlord may deduct, why the tenancy agreement must be stamped, and the four proofs that win.
Read moreHong Kong judgments given since 29 January 2024, Small Claims Tribunal awards included, can now be enforced in the Mainland. The HK$125 certificate, which Intermediate People's Court to use, the two-year limit and what is excluded.
Read moreMoney claims of ¥600,000 or less, one hearing, judgment the same day — and since May 2026, ¥7,400 to file online, postage included. The defendant can still opt out, and there is no appeal.
Read moreThe ceiling doubled to $60,000 in January 2026 and the fees moved again in July. What it costs, what it will not hear, how the referee runs the hearing, and the one narrow appeal.
Read moreCivil claims are a state matter, so there are eight ceilings — $10,000 in WA up to $100,000 at NCAT, and none at all in Victoria. Which forum, what it costs, and whether a lawyer may speak for you.
Read moreHK$15,000 or less per claimant goes to the Adjudication Board — conciliation first, 12 months to file. Above it, the Labour Tribunal: HK$50, a hearing in 10 to 30 days, and no lawyer on either side.
Read moreNo Hong Kong ordinance makes a solicitor's letter a condition of suing. The seven lines that turn a demand into evidence, the 6-year clock under Cap. 347 s.4(1)(a), and the signed acknowledgment or part payment that starts it again.
Read moreNot a lawyer's letter — a prescribed demand that starts a 21-day clock. The HK$10,000 floor, the HK$1,045 court fee, the HK$11,250 deposit, and the two ways it backfires.
Read moreHK$40 to file a small claim, HK$630 for a District Court writ, and legal costs you can never recover at the Tribunal. Three forums, the published fee tables, and the question that decides it.
Read moreSection 19(2) bars barristers and solicitors from the Tribunal unless they are the party. The nine-item bundle, the C1/D1 pagination convention, and the sentence that decides when your evidence closes.
Read moreA warrant of control caps at £5,000; a High Court writ needs £600. Between them the High Court route costs less and hits harder — and it is not the default.
Read moreOrder 93 bans legal representation, caps costs at RM100 and makes the Magistrate's decision final. The court ladder, and the four ways to enforce.
Read moreA payment order is enforceable if the debtor stays silent for 20 days. The NT$100,000 threshold, the NT$1,500 court fee and the 0.8% enforcement charge.
Read moreThe ceiling is 50% of each province's average annual wage, so it moves every year. One instance, no appeal, and a two-month deadline on the court.
Read moreThe Minor Civil Cases Court hears claims up to MOP 100,000 with no advance deposit. Why winning a 給付之訴 still leaves the money where it is.
Read moreA small-claims ceiling several times its neighbours', with no lawyer required — and a ₱500 surcharge once you pass five claims in a year.
Read moreUnder Order XXXVII the defendant has no automatic right to defend. Four forums, the three-year limitation clock, and why the cheque route runs alongside.
Read moreThe Small Claims Tribunals ban legal representation and refuse anything older than two years. The S$20,000 ceiling, the real filing fees, and what a win is actually worth.
Read moreAn empty chair is not a judgment. Section 17 makes you prove service and the debt; section 32A gives the absent party 7 days to apply to set the award aside. The sequence from no-show to enforceable award.
Read moreA Small Claims award is permission to collect, not payment. The Writ of Fieri Facias route, the HK$55 fee, and the Judiciary's own warning that the Bailiff cannot break into a home.
Read moreA claim above HK$75,000 cannot be split to fit the Small Claims Tribunal — but it can be shrunk. What abandoning the excess buys you, and when the arithmetic works.
Read moreAn AI lawyer is software that uses large language models and legal reasoning to do some of the work a human lawyer does: read the facts of a dispute, …
Read moreAn AI court is a simulation that puts your dispute in front of an AI judge, or a panel of them, to see how it might be decided. You supply the facts, …
Read moreWhen you are facing a dispute, you have three broad ways to test how it might play out: run an AI mock trial, hire a lawyer for advice, or commission …
Read moreSmall claims court is designed for people without lawyers, which makes it the ideal place to put an AI lawyer to work. The amounts are modest, the pro…
Read moreWhen people hear the phrase AI judge, they usually picture a robot replacing the person in the wig and gown. That is not what it means. An AI judge is…
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