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The European Small Claims Procedure (ESCP) is designed as a written procedure, wherein the oral hearing is granted limited space. The reason stems from the fact that an oral hearing in cross-border litigations takes a significantly longer time and its worth seems to be – notably in civil matters such as those fall within the ESCP’s scope – inversely related to the value of the case (the smaller the value, the less the worth). Such a procedure gives rise to a number of significant issues, concerning its consistency with the fundamental pro-cedural principle of the «right to be heard»; the correlative margin of discretion the court may rely on in deciding whether a hearing shall be scheduled or not; not least the role played by the modern communication technologies in this respect. The author deals with such is-sues in their multiple features and connections, trying to thus offer proper answers thereto. The author’s overall view is that the ESCP Regulation’s restrictive approach to oral hearing is reconciliable with the right to be heard and that the broad discretion conferred on the court in this respect is justified as well
