Discussion on the Economics Basis for the Application of Small Claims Procedure.docVIP

Discussion on the Economics Basis for the Application of Small Claims Procedure 　　Abstract. Small claims procedure, as a judicial solution to increasingly more civil and economic disputes, features low cost and high efficiency. In this paper, from the perspective of the microeconomics, small claims procedure is simply analyzed using the economics analysis tools such as opportunity cost and Coase theorem, and also the economics basis for the application of small claims procedure is proposed. 　　Key words: Small Claims Procedure; Opportunity Cost; Coase Theorem 　　Introduction 　　The significance of small claims procedure currently lies in providing a convenient, fast, low-cost, and explicit judicial procedure of the property rights for all parties with disputes, and this provides a premise condition for the effectiveness of Coase theorem. In the design of small claims procedure, high importance is attached to the minimization of litigation cost, and thus opportunities and possibilities can be provided for the parties to claim their rights and also the requirement of Coase theorem on transaction cost is zero or small is realized. In addition, the object of litigation is strictly limited by small claims procedure. Specifically, it is basically limited to the small civil dispute scope with a clear relationship between rights and obligations in the civil field. In this paper, the author tries to make a simple tentative analysis on small claims procedure from the perspective of the economics. 　　Small Claims Procedure 　　Small claims procedure can be defined from broad and narrow senses. Strict distinction between the small claims procedure in a broad sense and the general summary procedure is unavailable; in the continental law system countries where the amount of the object of litigation is used as the standard for dividing the jurisdictions of local courts and superior courts, the difference between the two sides customarily only lies in the different amount of th