The General District Court of Virginia ( GDC ) is the lowest level of the Virginia court system, and it is the court contacted by most Virginia people. GDC jurisdictions are generally limited to traffic cases and other minor offenses, civil cases involving amounts under $ 25,000. There are 32 GDC districts, each of which has at least one judge, and each has a court clerk and courthouse with courtroom facilities.
GDCs are not court records, which means that they do not keep detailed records of their processes and their decisions do not provide precedents for citing in other processes. Proceedings before the GDC are less formal than those brought to higher court in the state. They did not test the jury; cases heard and decided by judges. In civil cases, they are only empowered to provide legal reparations, and generally can not provide compensation in equity, such as court decisions or declarative decisions.
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Jurisdiction and place
Jurisdiction of subjects
Subjects of GDC jurisdiction are narrow, both related to civil cases and criminal cases. In connection with a civil claim, he has sole authority to try cases involving $ 4,500 or less. It shares the authority with the Circuit Court of Virginia to try a case involving an amount between $ 4,500 and $ 25,000. The amounts in the controversy are determined without considering interest or attorney fees, even if the recovery of these costs is determined in the contract. In this limitation, the GDC can hear cases in a lawsuit or contract, and the action in detinue searches for the return of the wrong private property. In determining whether the amount involved is included in the amount under the terms of the controversy, interest payments and attorney fees are contracted in a written instrument.
In cases involving unlawful real estate holdings used for commercial, commercial, or agricultural purposes, the GDC may hear cases involving lease claims payable and property damage without limitation. If real estate is used for residential purposes, then the $ 25,000 limit applies. The GDC may issue an urgent decision letter establishing the creditor's rights to confiscate the property, again indefinitely for the amount. In contrast, the GDC may order attachments of personal property worth up to $ 25,000, but have no authority to order real estate attachments, no matter how low they are. With regard to criminal cases, the GDC can only try minor offenses. The GDC also has no authority over domestic affairs issues such as divorce, cancellation, and custody of children, nor does it have any authority over the will, which is directed to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Circuit Court. The only assistance the GDC can provide is in upholding the country's Freedom of Information Act.
personal jurisdiction
The GDC must also be able to exercise personal jurisdiction over the defendant, which may be based on the physical presence of the accused in the jurisdiction, or on the occurrence of some element of cause of action in the jurisdiction. Personal jurisdiction is based on Virginia's long-arms law, which generally allows a Virginia court to exercise personal jurisdiction over a Virginia-based party, or transact a major business in Virginia, or cause injuries that can be acted upon in Virginia. A party may override the lack of personal jurisdiction, but it may also appear in court to challenge personal jurisdiction without thereby ignoring the matter.
Venue
In the case of places, where personal jurisdiction lies in some districts, the appropriate place for the case to be heard is defined by Virginia law, which divides possible places as "Category A" (preferably) and "Category B" (allowed) , and requires Category B to be used only where Category A is not available. For example, in a land ownership dispute, Category A places are located where the land is located. Most Categories Provisions where Virginia statutes do not apply to GDCs, which have no jurisdiction on divorce issues and judge issues, and can not issue orders. In the types of cases that can be heard on the GDC, the place is generally considered unacceptable if not where the defendant lives or has a registered office or registered agent, or where some portion of the action appears.
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Civil Procedures
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The GDC process is relatively informal. No need to apply for formal. Instead, the plaintiff may charge and serve the defendant with a "civil warrant", which is a form provided by the Court Clerk containing blanks to be filled in identifying the parties and the cause of the action. Alternatively, the claimant may draft his own "motion notice". The notice given to the defendant must instruct the defendant on several matters. This should explain how the trial date will be established; he should notify the defendant that failure to appear and claim contest may cause a default to be entered; and, under something similar to Virginia law, he had to tell the defendant how they could refuse the place. The defendant does not need to submit an answer at all, but can only appear in court on a designated "date of return" and a claim contest. A civil warrant may be granted to the defendant by the sheriff or the deputy of the county in which the defendant resides, unless the plaintiff elects to have process services performed by the court officer. The return date is the date on which the defendant should appear in court, and may be anywhere from 5 to 60 days after the service process is performed.
If the defendant feels that the plaintiff has not provided sufficient information about the cause of the action, he may file a motion for a "special bill", and if the court provides such a move then the plaintiff will be ordered to provide the requested details. If the cause of the action is based on a written instrument such as contract or deed, the original must be given to the court, and the defendant may use a motion for a special bill to force the creation of this document as well.. The plaintiff, on the other hand, may file a motion for a "defense base", which, if awarded, would result in an order requiring the defendant to submit a written response indicating the defense to be stated. If the claimant fails to respond to a special charge, or the defendant fails to provide the requested defense reason, the court may enter a summary assessment of the unresponsive party.
A defendant may also file a counter-claim against the plaintiff, or a cross-claim against a defendant, at any point before the proceeding begins, as long as the amount is within the limits of the GDC jurisdiction. Failure to file a counter-claim, however, does not affect the waiver of the counter-claim. A defendant may distribute third parties at any time within ten days after the service process has been done, until the date of the hearing, as long as the third party receives an effective process service. Virginia law, however, prohibits the accused from merging a common embezzlement against whom the plaintiff is forbidden to recover (such as the plaintiff's employer in case of a negligent injury, to be covered by state workers' compensation). Virginia law does not recognize the doctrines of parties that are necessary and inseparable, so the inability to unite a party will not affect the jurisdiction of the court over the case.
The GDC can also entertain the causes of interpleader action, allowing parties who hold something of value to force all competing claimants to sue who has superior claims. As with other causes, jurisdictional boundaries must be met. It should be remembered that the GDC has no legal force; While the Circuit Court may issue an order prohibiting parties from interpleader claim litigation in other forums, the GDC can not prevent this. Finally, there is no right of intervention in the GDC process; a third party wishing to become a party in a pending case can not do so except for the motion of the party in the case.
Discovery and testing
There is hardly any pretrial discovery available at the GDC level. However, a witness may be forced to appear in the court itself through a subpoena, and may be required to bring the document through a court order. Parties wishing to call a witness must file a court call request at least 15 days before the trial, or else they should show "good reason" for reasons why a subpoena should be issued.
Since there is no jury in the GDC, the trials are relatively quick and informal. Evidence is presented by oral testimony of witnesses, although personal injury can be proven with written records from hospitals or health care providers. If a medical report written by a healthcare provider is introduced, the party wishing to introduce it should notify the other party at least 10 days before the trial. Health care providers should swear statements that affirm that they treat this patient and prove that the report fully describes the injury, and is true and accurate for the description of the injury and any cost statement.
Post-test motion
A party requesting a review of the decision shall file a motion requesting this release within 21 days of the entry of the verdict. The cases are divided on whether the court should decide on the movement over a 21-day period.
Appeal
Appeals from GDC for civil matters over $ 50, and for all criminal and traffic cases, go to the Circuit Court of Virginia, where they are being re-trialed de novo (because the GDC does not produce records for review because error). Applicants in the Circuit Court will then be entitled to a jury trial, even though they are not entitled to one at the GDC. If the case is a criminal case or a traffic violation, the applicant will automatically receive a jury trial in the Circuit Court unless they expressly exclude this right. For civil cases at the time of appeal, the applicant must request a jury; if no request is made, then the appeal will be heard by a Circuit Court judge only. Cases heard in the GDC may not be directly referred to a court other than the Circuit Court, even though the decision of the Circuit Court is subject to further appeals review. In determining whether the problem exceeds $ 50, the Circuit Court looks at the recovery achieved by the plaintiff. If, for example, the plaintiff sought $ 3,000 and earned $ 2,960, the plaintiff would have the right not to file an appeal, but the defendant would (who had assessed the assessment over $ 50). In a repeat trial at the Circuit Court brought by the appeals of the defendant, the plaintiff may request a leave to amend to raise the claim to an amount exceeding the $ 25,000 limit of GDC.
To appeal the case from the GDC to the Circuit Court, an appeal notice must be made to the GDC clerk within 10 days after the assessment or confidence has been entered by the GDC. The applicant must then post the bond and pay the written tax on the GDC within 30 days of the decision, or within 10 days of the verdict if the case is one of the unlawful detainers.
See also
- District court: United States
- Judiciary of Virginia
References
External links
- General Virginia District Court
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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