Note - this takes place in England, advice required under UK and specifically English law.
I am shortly going to initiate an action in the small claims court. The defendant has committed several torts against me that I can certainly prove.
Among other things she has:
committed an assault upon me
gone around telling malicious lies about me.
caused extensive damage to my residence.
Twocked my vee-hicle and my booze.
Unspeakable acts against my favourite footwear.
I have some previous experience in small claims, both as plaintiff and defendant. I’m fairly sure I’m on solid ground with four out of five of the above. The facts and the law are on my side.
As for the lies, is it even possible to argue slander in UK small claims? Will the judge even listen if I argue such?
Small Claims court is for claiming money you are owed, such as for an unpaid invoice.
What you are talking about is slander, harassment, assault and criminal damage. Nothing the small claims court is appropriate for. You need a solicitor…or the Police.
If someone spreads false rumors about me due to the sexual harassment panic, I might sue as well, since it should be okay for boys to get randi once in awhile. Alas, I fear the sweeping undercurrent of allegations, previously underground, might become a river.
Very difficult to say - we do not have the full story here at all, only your side of it.
People generally do not behave in this manner for no reason, so you would need to demonstrate that her responses were disproportionate.
This is not so easy, you’ll find that in our courts that man v woman is a real challenge - especially when she gets to responding.
You might consider looking up her face book and other social media stuff first, before you decide to formally lodge a claim - in order to prevent destruction/deletion of evidence.
You will also need to demonstrate the amount of detriment you have suffered - reputational damage is not easy to price up, you’d need to demonstrate the value of your current reputation, which means looking at yourself rather critically.
Now if you are making a claim for damage of physical things, that is far easier, its all about balance of probabilities rather than proof beyond reasonable doubt, and this is a far lower standard.
Also it is worth noting that parties who are challenged in small claims courts frequently do not turn up - and the plaintiff wins by default.
You will not make much money, frankly you’d be better off getting a restraining order, when she breaches it then it will lay far more solid grounds for future complaint.
Either that or move on, you will find in life that there are plenty of folk who are horrible - no point in living your life around them - all you are doing is validating them, what goes around comes around
The other person in this action has done a number of things that are tortuous under UK law. I intend to sue for financial compensation. The person did not really:
knock me down,
step on my face
burn my house
steal my car
drink my liquor
step on my blue suede shoes
However, this person *has *slandered my name all over the place. Among other things.
The question is a real one, albeit asked in jocular fashion. I thought the reference would be obvious. I don’t want to get bogged down in discussing the other torts, so I won’t list them, or even give details of the slander. I just want to know, is it possible to get compensation for slander in UK small claims court?
“So consider whether all of the above criteria have been met. Even if they have, the only way to pursue a claim for defamation is through the High Court. This always makes such claims very complex and they require the professional help of specialist defamation lawyers. As such, the claims are also very expensive and the case would cost thousands of pounds and take quite a long time. There is no legal aid for making a defamation claim so the claimant has to fund it in full. ”
Nope, small claims are for material losses and contractual breaches.
If you do go down the route of slander, this is incredibly difficult to prove - usually turns out to be he said/she said counter arguments, which is why defamation suits are almost always related to libel - where there is documentary evidence to support a claim.
Alternatively where slander is in the form of a broadcast including internet sources then there may be some indisputable evidence.
You would almost certainly be required to jump the hurdle of arbitration before being given leave to pursue your case, a reputable solicitor will advise you very strongly to attempt this first because of the very high potential costs of a full court hearing
Also, understand this, once you start going to civil courts, you can only go for slander through the high court - which involves juries and generally huge costs that you simply cannot afford
So, in summary - if there is physical damage to your property - small claims is the place to go, if it is butthurt then it really needs to be very serious and you need to be rich, and ask yourself this, do you believe the party you are attempting to sue has any assets worth seizing?
You might win a case and your compo is less than your costs - don’t think that by winning a claim that your costs will be awarded, it happens but there is no guarantee.
I imagine you will be getting similar advice from anyone else you may ask, no matter how many folk you ask - you will not get the answer you want - except from an idiot.
I don’t know why but this page freezes up my browser every time I try to op[en it.
I did in fact Google it, hits included your link, which I couldn’t read. Most of the rest referred to American law. (It is possible in USA, according to several pages I found)
