Civil Procedure In South Africa
The legal guidelines and requirements that South African courts adhere to while making decisions about civil lawsuits are known as civil procedure (as opposed to procedures in criminal law matters). The two main categories of law are procedural law and substantive law. Procedural law governs how rights and duties between legal subjects are enforced, whereas substantive law specifies what such rights and obligations are. These rules specify how a case or lawsuit may be started, the type of service of process required, the types of pleadings or statements of case, motions or applications, and orders permitted in civil cases, the timing and manner of depositions and discovery or disclosure, the conduct of trials, the process for judgment, various available remedies, and how the courts and clerks are to operate.
Sources Of Civil Procedure
The Magistrates’ Courts Act and Guidelines, the Superior Courts Act (which abolished and replaced the Supreme Court Act), the Uniform Rules of Court, jurisprudence, court practice rules, and other legislation are the sources of civil procedure in South Africa. The Seventeenth Constitutional Amendment Bill should also be noted. Since it was established in 1985, only the Rules Board is qualified to create court rules.
The Constitution Of South Africa
As the supreme law of the Republic, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, establishes the overall framework for civil procedure. Since its introduction in the 1990s, the Constitution has been responsible for major changes to civil procedure, including debt collection matters, access to the courts, and prescription, particularly with regard to litigation against the government. The Bill of Rights, Chapter 2 of the Constitution, is applicable to “all law,” according to Section 8. Since several Chapter 2 rights directly relate to the law of civil procedure, including the right to equality before the law (section 9), the right to freedom and security (12), the right to property (25), the right to adequate housing (26), and the right to access courts (26), litigation cannot be conducted without taking section 36 of the Constitution, the limitations clause (34).
What Is A Summons?
A simple summons is a written statement that includes the specifics of the plaintiff’s claim in the body of the summons. The ordinary summons in the Magistrate’s Court is equivalent to the simple summons in the High Court. On the other hand, a combined summons is accompanied with a separate, more comprehensive document that contains the specifics of the claim. The simple summons is typically used when there is a claim for a debt or a liquidated demand. There are some situations where a combination summons is required, such as divorce cases. However, it is traditional in the High Court to only utilize a straightforward summons when absolutely necessary.
What Is Provisional Summons Sentence?
With a provisional sentence summons, a creditor in possession of a liquid document can file a lawsuit right away. A temporary judgment will be rendered against the debtor if he is unable to contest the validity of the liquid document. The debtor won’t be able to proceed with the case’s merits until he has made the security payment for the judgment debt. In a recent ruling, the Constitutional Court determined that a number of components of the temporary summons system were unconstitutional.
How Must A Summons Be Served In South Africa?
The summons is often signed by an attorney or, if the plaintiff is not represented, by the plaintiff himself. The court clerk or registrar, who stamps the document and assigns it a case number, must issue it after it has been drafted. A summons would expire if service had not been made by the end of the year under Rule 10 of the former court rules. The court rules that were altered don’t contain such a clause.
