§1.02 Your Role as Judge

Your role as judge in a small claims court is unique. Except in de novo appeals, ordinarily there are no attorneys, and therefore you are much more than a passive observer. You must deal directly with the parties and take an active role in determining the facts that are in dispute by questioning the witnesses. You may consult witnesses informally and otherwise investigate the controversy. [CCP §116.520(c); see §5.16.]

You must protect the rights of the parties by raising technical issues such as jurisdiction, venue, statute of limitations, or special consumer defenses when they may apply but are not apparent to the parties. You determine all factual and legal issues. The volume of small claims cases requires the judicial officer to balance the parties’ rights and the speed with which the cases must be properly decided.

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Justice Ming W. Chin of the California Supreme Court summarizes your primary responsibilities in this clip from a small claims court training video.

You must courteously and informatively deal with parties who are not familiar with court procedures while maintaining the decorum proper to a court of law. You should develop an understanding of the positions and needs of individuals, who may be unsophisticated and who may be seeking justice in a system that they don’t understand well. In this forum, you as the judge embody the judicial system. Oftentimes, appearing in small claims court is a person’s first and only introduction to our court system. Persons appearing in your small claims court will base their perceptions of the fairness of the judicial system on the proceedings that take place here.

(Start video by clicking the Play button.) transcript Help With Video