Appeal

2009 Amendments. Paragraph (c) is amended to provide that when either the plaintiff or defendant fails to appear for trial, or appears but is not prepared to proceed with trial and there is not a good cause basis for a continuance, judgment is to be entered in favor of the party appearing and ready to proceed. 2009 Note. * On July 1, 2003 the Boston Municipal Court Department was expanded to include eight former divisions of the District Court located in Suffolk County. 2001 Amendments. Most of these amendments are necessary because an appealing party must now elect between trial by a judge and trial before a jury. Jury session procedures are amended to permit the increasingly frequent practice of sending original case papers to the jury session (while retaining copies at the primary court). The authority granted the Chief Justice of the District Court Department to designate where trials are to be heard in G.L. c. 218, § 23 , permits the retention of jury-waived cases in the court where the case originated regardless of whether that court has a jury session. The purpose is to take caseload pressure away from busy jury sessions. Unlike the District Court and Housing Court Departments, the Boston Municipal Court Department of the Trial Court does not consist of separate geographical divisions. Accordingly, all appeals from a small claims session of the Boston Municipal Court are to a jury session of that same court and all papers related to such appeals are processed within the Office of the Clerk of the Boston Municipal Court for Civil Business.* In paragraph (a), the reference to the surcharge required by G.L. c. 262, § 4C for new entries “to which a separate docket number is assigned” has been deleted since virtually all courts no longer assign a new docket number when a magistrate’s decision in a small claim is appealed to a judge or a jury. The deletion in paragraph (b) of the reference to the District/Municipal Courts Rules of Civil Procedure reflects their July 1, 1996 consolidation with the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure. The limitation in paragraph (e) of appeals to the Appeals Court to those deriving from cases tried by a judge or before a jury in the Housing Court Department reflects the decision of the Supreme Judicial Court in Trust Ins. Co. v. Bruce at Park Chiropractic Clinic , 430 Mass. 607 , 610 n.9 (2000). There, in a case involving a motion heard initially by a District Court judge, the Supreme Judicial Court stated: “To the extent that Rule 10(e) of the Uniform Small Claims Rules (1999) provides for an appeal to the Appeals Court from the jury session, it is in conflict with G.L. c. 218, § 23 , which provides for the report of questions of law to the appellate division in certain circumstances. General Laws Chapter 211A, § 10 provides for an appeal from the appellate division to the Appeals Court.” However, there is no appellate division in the Housing Court Department, thereby necessitating, in order to provide for appellate review, an appeal to the Appeals Court from cases heard by a judge or before a jury in the Housing Court Department.