Amendment of 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’ Court have been amended. The amended rules were published in the Government Gazette 42497.

Some of the amendments pertaining to the SCA include:
  • changes to definitions in Rule 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 section 18(4)(ii) of the act 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 Rule 30A on non-compliance with Rules;
  • substitution of Rule 32;
  • substitution of Rule 36 on inspections, examinations and expert testimony;
  • a new Rule 37 on pre-trial conference;
  • the insertion of Rule 37A on judicial case management; and
  • a repeal of Forms 4,4 and 6 of the First Schedule. New tariffs are also added to Rule 68 item 5(c) on immovable property.

One of the adjustments pertaining to the conduct of Magistrates’ Courts is the amendment of Rule 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.