No.7 JUDICIAL LAWS AMENDMENT (EASE OF SETrLING COMMERCIAL AND OTHER DISPUTES) PART III AMENDMENTS TO MAGISTRATES COURT Acr (CHAPTER 6 7:1 0] Amendment of section 2 of Cap. 7:10 Section 2 ("Interpretation") of the principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following definitions""business" includes a trade, profession, vocation, occupation and venture, and an isolated transaction of a business character, but does not include employment; "commercial court" means a magistrates court before which a commercial dispute is brought; "commercial dispute" means a dispute of a civil nature arising out of a transaction in the course of business, including but not limited to- 7 (a) the formation, management, transfer or dissolution of a business entity; (b) the contractual relationship of a business entity with another such entity or with another person or persons undertaken in the course of business; (c) the contractual or delictual liability of a business or of a person engaged in a business that arises in the course of business activities; (d) disputes primarily involving banking and financial services; (e) the restructuring or payment of business debts; (f) the enforcement of an arbitral award of a business character;". Amendment of section 11 of Cap. 7:10 Section 11 ("Jurisdiction in civil cases") the principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (2)"(2a) For the avoidance of doubt it is declared that every court (which, for this purpose, is called a "commercial court") has jurisdiction in the first instance to adjudicate a commercial dispute if the amount at stake in such dispute is within the limit prescribed under subsection (2)(b), and(a) the commercial dispute arose wholly within the province; or (b) either or both of the parties to the commercial dispute reside, carry on business or are employed within the same province; or (c) either or both of the parties to the commercial dispute are entities that conduct any business in the same province, whether the entities in question are companies, co-operatives, partnerships, syndicates, trusts or any other kind of entities; or (d) the commercial dispute is between an individual and a company, co-operative, partnership, syndicate, trust or other entity, and both parties reside, carry on business, are employed or conduct business (as the case may be) in the same province.". 130 2017