By Nomfundo Jele

Amendments to the rules regulating the conduct of court proceedings

The rules regulating the conduct of the proceedings of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), the High Court, as well as the magistrates’ courts have been amended. The amended rules were published in GN R842 GG42497/31-5-2019.

Some of the amendments pertaining to the SCA include:

• changes to definitions in r 1;
• Rule 6 has an added sub-rule on application and referral for reconsideration stipulating that applications for reconsideration of a decision shall be conducted in accordance with directives issued by the president; and
• Rule 7 is amended by the addition of sub-rule 5 stipulating that an appeal in terms of s 18(4)(ii) of the Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013 shall be conducted in accordance with directives issued by the president.

Changes regarding the rules regulating the conduct of the High Court include:

• substitution of r 30A on non-compliance with rules;
• substitution of r 32;
• substitution of r 36 on inspections, examinations and expert testimony;
• a new r 37 on pre-trial conference;
• the insertion of r 37A on judicial case management; and
• a repeal of Forms 4,4 and 6 of the First Schedule.

New tariffs have also been added to r 68 item 5(c) on immovable property. One of the adjustments pertaining to the conduct of magistrates’ courts is the amendment of r 19 on exceptions and applications to strike out. To read the detailed amendments click here. 

All the amendments come into effect on 1 July 2019.

Judge President’s Practice Directive: Enrolment of r 43 applications during administrative recess

The Judge President of the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria, Dunstan Mlambo, has issued a practice directive, which applies to the Local Division of the High Court in Johannesburg. The purpose of the directive is to manage the enrolment of r 43 applications during administrative recess periods.

According to the directive, no more than three unopposed r 43 applications and not more than one opposed r 43 application will be enrolled daily during recess. The enrolment of these applications will be on the unopposed motion roll and will be heard by judges on unopposed motion recess duty. The directive applies only to matters enrolled at the Gauteng Local Division of the High Court in Johannesburg. The Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria has its own practice regarding r 43 application enrolments during recess and that remains unchanged.

The directive is effective from the July 2019 administrative recess period. View it here.

New affidavit on non-interest for insolvencies/liquidations

The old affidavit of non-interest is no longer accepted. According to the Department of Justice, from 1 June 2019, only the new affidavit is acceptable to be lodged in all insolvencies/liquidations in all Master’s Offices countrywide by liquidators/trustees who are appointed on insolvent matters/liquidations. Affidavits submitted after 1 June 2019 in the old format will not be accepted or considered.

Click here to download the new affidavit.

 Watch out for this scam

Standard Bank has notified the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) of business e-mail interception fraud. The bank has recently seen a spike in fraud emanating from the interception of payment instructions from legal practitioners (particularly in the conveyancing sector). The fraudsters, after intercepting e-mails, alter the banking details until such payment is ultimately made into an account that belongs to the fraudster as opposed to the intended beneficiary, being the legal practitioner

The bank would like to highlight this risk and urges legal practitioners to impress on their clients the need to confirm payment details telephonically on receipt of an e-mail instruction prior to making any payment.

Click on this link to the LSSA website advising on Cybercrime: Business e-mail compromises.

SALRC Access to Justice Conference

The Law Society of South Africa has previously advised members on the International Conference on Access to Justice, Legal Costs and Other Interventions. The report on the conference held in Durban at the end of last year and was hosted by the South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC) can be found on the link below.  Members are reminded that the outcomes are important as they will guide the SALRC in drafting proposals in terms of the regulation of legal costs.

View the report here.

Nomfundo Jele, Communications Officer, Law Society of South Africa, nomfundom@lssa.org.za