Interpretation
3 Interpretation
In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—
Chief Magistrate means the person holding or acting in the office of Chief Magistrate under the Magistrates Act 1983;
civil action means an action or proceeding brought in a civil division of the Court;
Court or Magistrates Court means the Magistrates Court of South Australia;
criminal action means an action or proceeding brought in a criminal division of the Court;
criminal division means the Criminal Division or the Nunga Court Division of the Court;
evidentiary material means any document, object or substance of evidentiary value in proceedings before the Court and includes any document, object or substance that should, in the opinion of the Court, be produced for the purpose of enabling the Court to determine whether or not it has evidentiary value;
interlocutory judgment includes—
an interlocutory order; and
an order or ruling relating to the admissibility or giving of evidence;
judgment means a judgment, order or decision and includes an interlocutory judgment;
judicial office means the office of Magistrate, Judicial Registrar or special justice;
Judicial Registrar means a Magistrates Court Judicial Registrar;
Magistrate means a person holding office as a Magistrate under the Magistrates Act 1983;
minor civil action—see subsection (2);
minor statutory proceeding means—
an application under the Fences Act 1975; or
an application under Part 4 or section 33 of the Second-hand Vehicle Dealers Act 1995; or
an application under the Retail and Commercial Leases Act 1995, other than an application that involves a monetary claim for more than $12 000; or
an application under section 11(8) of the Second-hand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act 1996; or
an application under Part 5 of the Building Work Contractors Act 1995; or
a transferred proceeding within the meaning of Part 3A of the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013; or
any other proceeding declared by statute to be a minor statutory proceeding;
neighbourhood dispute means a dispute between neighbours, or the occupiers of properties in close proximity, based on allegations of trespass or nuisance;
Nunga Court means the Nunga Court Division of the Court;
Registrar means the Principal Registrar, or any Registrar or Deputy Registrar of the Court, but does not include a Judicial Registrar;
rules means the rules of the Court in force under this Act;
small claim means a monetary claim for $12 000 or less.
For the purposes of this Act, a person will be taken to be an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person if—
the person is descended from an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person; and
the person identifies as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person; and
the person is accepted as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person by an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community.
When sentencing an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person in the Nunga Court Division of the Court, the Court will be known as—
the Nunga Court; or
if the Chief Magistrate assigns another name to the Court for the purposes of this subsection—that name (and a reference in this Act to the Nunga Court or the Nunga Court Division will be taken to include a reference to the Court as so named).
Before assigning a name to the Court under subsection (1b)(b), the Chief Magistrate—
must consult with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Justice Officers (within the meaning of section 22 of the Sentencing Act 2017) and any other persons or bodies recommended by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Justice Officers; and
may consult with any other persons or bodies that the Chief Magistrate thinks appropriate.
Subject to subsections (3) and (4), a minor civil action is an action founded on—
a small claim; or
a claim for relief in relation to a neighbourhood dispute; or
a minor statutory proceeding.
If a claim that is not within one of the classes referred to in subsection (2) is introduced into a minor civil action, the action ceases to be a minor civil action unless the Court orders that the subsequent claim be tried separately.
Subject to subsection (4a), if a neighbourhood dispute or a minor statutory proceeding involves—
a monetary claim for more than $12 000; or
a claim for relief in the nature of an order to carry out work where the value of the work is more than $12 000, a party may elect, in accordance with the rules, to exclude the dispute or proceeding from the rules governing minor civil actions1, and in that case, the dispute or proceeding ceases to be a minor civil action.
Subsection (4) does not apply to a minor statutory proceeding that is a transferred proceeding within the meaning of Part 3A of the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (and the Court may deal with the proceeding as a minor statutory proceeding despite the fact that the proceeding involves a claim that exceeds the monetary limits referred to in that subsection).
Proceedings for a contempt of the Court will be regarded as a civil action or a criminal action according to whether the contempt relates to proceedings in a civil division or a criminal division of the Court and where the contempt is unrelated to proceedings in the Court, the proceedings for contempt will be regarded as a criminal action.
Notes1 See Division 2 of Part 5.2 For definition of divisional penalties (and divisional expiation fees) see Appendix.
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