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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 6 Hansard (23 May) . . Page.. 1776 ..

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Additionally, the Bill provides for simple procedures for the joining of additional parties, so that all the relevant parties are before the Tribunal and all matters in dispute can be dealt with at once.

Presently, in the Small Claims Court, the Court has a discretion only in specific circumstances to compensate a party who has incurred out-of-pocket expenses as a result of commencing action in the Small Claims Court. For instance, a successful litigant can recover the filing fee, and where an investigator is appointed, the Court may order that some or all of the costs of remuneration of the investigator be paid by a party. The Bill will allow members of the Tribunal to award out-of-pocket expenses when they are unnecessarily incurred due to the action of the other party. For instance, a person may incur expenses in presenting their case by having to obtain business searches and accident reports where particular non-contentious facts should have been agreed to by the other party.

The Bill includes a provision which provides a mechanism for certain specified persons and bodies, or a corporation approved by the Registrar, to avoid the necessity of paying money into the Tribunal by way of a bond, as an undertaking to pay money into the Tribunal, if certain conditions or particular circumstances arise, in the same manner as allowed in the Magistrates Court.

Presently, the jurisdiction of the Court includes actions in nuisance. This has successfully allowed members of the ACT community to instigate actions against neighbours or other people who interfere with or inconvenience a person's ordinary comforts of physical

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