There are many true and fictitious means of winning in court spread throughout the internet. There is the Solutions in Commerce folks who claim everything is commerce. There’s the Loose the Name people who claim that using a name or spelling it in all capitals grants jurisdiction to the court and the claimant. There are others who claim to challenge jurisdiction and challenge the cause of action.
The former two have never succeeded in any court that I have seen. The latter two have been brought by myself and I’ve won and they’ve been used against me in my pension claim by the Department of Justice and I’ve been winning. In consideration of these means of battling a legal dispute, when it comes to Civil claims there are other legitimate methods of winning that will be accepted by the court and you can win if you do it properly.
Rule 19 of the Rules of Civil Procedure states that a default judgment can be achieved without even seeing a Justice to have an order granted. The key word there is “default”. If you file a claim against someone, or a claim has been filed against you and an answer isn’t served and filed within the required time limits, a Default Judgment can be granted by the Registrar.
You’re probably already familiar with this procedure but have never really thought about it before. Think about the last ticket or violation you received. It said something along the lines of “if you don’t respond by “x” date then you may be found guilty in your absence”. Think about what that statement says. You have a time line to reply to a claim made against you. If you refuse or forget or for whatever other reason don’t respond then they will ask the Registrar of the court in question for a default judgement. The reason for this is simple.
The courts all operate under the same rules although they may be in different paragraphs and legislation but the fact is that every cause of action has to be replied to with an answer. In Ontario it’s called a Statement of Defense. If there is no answer then it’s accepted that the accused agrees to the claim made against them. Since they agree and there is no reason to waste valuable courts and peoples time and money the rules state that the Registrar may not the accused in default for not replying and then, under certain conditions, pass judgment for the claimant.
This is simple logic as you would do the same if you were judging a game or your children’s activities where they have disputes. If you child said “He did ….” and the other child just stood there staring at the ground then you would accept the first child’s claim as truth. Thinking about that you can use that in court too. If you make a claim against a person and that person doesn’t respond then you have the ability within the Rules to request they be found in default and in some circumstances have the Registrar file a default judgment in your favor. Where the Registrar is unable to file a judgment then you can still note the opposition in default but you will require a Justice to pass judgment. This is typically where damages or unknown remedies are sought and it’s not black and white like a parking ticket claim.
