1. I am a director of a company that has a judgment against it. I have been told by a lawyer that I am not responsible personally for the debt of the company. Now that I have received a notice of examination in the small claims court, do I have to appear?

If you do not appear, you can be arrested and brought to the court to answer questions. You are not responsible, personally, for the debt of the company, but as a director, you have the legal responsibility to explain what assets the company has and that the funds of the company were not used improperly to avoid the payment of the judgment amount.

In Iran and other Muslim countries in the middle east, if you have incurred an obligation to pay by writing a cheque, you can be arrested for issuing a bad cheque. The obligation to pay carries criminal sanctions. In the common law countries like Canada, the liability to pay is civil. This means that if you do not have money to pay, you cannot be put into jail for non-payment.

However, in Canada, you have an obligation to come to court when notified to appear before a judge. The plaintiff, the party holding judgment against you, has a right to ask questions on what assets you have. These questions must be answered. This used to be called a Judgment Summons Examination. Now, with the new simplified legal vocabulary, it is called Examination in Aid of Execution. This examination can be held before a private examiner or before a judge of the small claims court.

If the judgment was obtained only against a limited liability company, then only that company is responsible for payment of that judgment amount from the assets it has. The plaintiff can obtain the name of the directors of the company by doing a search at the Ministry of Corporate and Consumer Affairs at 393 University Avenue in Toronto and serve a notice on one of the directors to appear and answer questions.

The notice must be served personally to the director or the defendant, and he must appear at the appointed time and place to answer questions. If you fail to appear, a warrant for an arrest can be issued. The arrest warrants of these types are not always a top priority for the police and may take time to execute. When executed, you could be jailed and then brought to the court where you failed to appear.

If you become aware that such a warrant is outstanding, you should take immediate steps to consult a lawyer and arrange for the warrant to be purged by appearing before the court and explaining why you did not appear. It could save you from spending a few nights in jail.

A newcomer to the legal system can end up in jail for not knowing the laws and how to deal with them even in civil matters. It is, therefore, important for immigrants to be aware of the laws and have access to legal advice so you know how to deal with the matter.

In Canada, the person talking to the judge will nearly always stand up. In the US, in some courts, the lawyers and litigants may talk sitting down. In the heat of the argument, there may be interruptions from the other side. These interruptions are least common in England, a little more common in Canada, and quite common in India.

If you are giving evidence alone without a counsel, you would look at the judge and present your evidence. If you have a counsel, you would look at your lawyer and reply to his questions. When replying to the questions of the other side on cross examination, you should look at that person and reply. When a judge asks the question, you always should look at the judge and reply.

A judge is a person of authority and in some cultures, such as the Native Indian culture, you do not look straight in the eyes of the judge when you are talking to him. It is important that you learn to talk and look at the judge because if a judge is not used to different cultures, he may misunderstand you. The interaction between the judge and the litigant is, to some degree, governed by the culture of the country. If you are new to the culture, it is important that you learn these variations to get the best results.