Appeals from District Court judgments instituted after 1 August 1997 are governed by the new s 118 of the District Court Act 1967, regardless of when proceedings were commenced. The Sunskill vested rights principle does not apply where s 138 provides a specific transitional regime. Where a plaint does not specify an amount claimed and the judgment is below the jurisdictional threshold, neither s 118(2)(a)(ii) nor s 118(2)(b) confers a right of appeal, and the Schiliro principle cannot be extended by inferring the amount claimed from statements of loss and damage supplemented by estimates of general damages.
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