British Columbia residents will soon be able to sidestep a physical courtroom and fight many small claims disputes online.

Starting June 1, 2017 the Ministry of Justice says the Civil Resolution Tribunal will begin accepting small claims cases involving amounts of $5,000 or less.

The tribunal is Canada’s first online mechanism for resolving homeowner association and small claim disputes, but is currently restricted to property issues valued at under than $5,000.

Once it begins accepting cases, use of the online tribunal will be mandatory for most disputes up to the $5,000 value.

The Justice Ministry has also increased the limit of a small claim case to $35,000 in an effort to free the justice system to resolve other matters.

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To read the related “Global News” article and watch a 5-min video with the Civil Resolution Tribunal Chair Shannon Salter click here – https://goo.gl/PbhEGW

Source: Global News, Canada