Watch the interview detailing how the critical shortage of judges in Gauteng has created a massive backlog of cases, severely impacting the court’s ability to function effectively. The overwhelming volume of cases, combined with limited resources, has resulted in unacceptable waiting times of up to five years and, in some instances, even eight years. In this interview, Advocate Erasmus sheds light on the court’s dire situation.

A Pretoria law firm is seeking direct access to the Constitutional Court in a bid to overturn practice directives issued by the Gauteng High Court in January which restrict the number of cases a law firm can enrol per day. A Pretoria News report notes Gert Nel Incorporated Attorneys, represented by attorney Gert Nel, said in an affidavit submitted to the Constitutional Court that the directives infringed on the right of litigants to access the court. The directives, issued by Judge President Dunstan Mlambo, pertain to both the Pretoria and Johannesburg divisions, notes the report. In terms of the directives, each law firm may only apply for a maximum of five matters per court roll a day. This is capped to a combined total of 20 matters per division a day. These restrictions do not include urgent applications. A limit of 40 warrants of execution and subpoenas, per firm, may

A Pretoria law firm is heading to the Constitutional Court in a bid to overturn practice directives issued by the Gauteng High Court in January which restrict the number of cases a law firm can enrol per day. Gert Nel Incorporated Attorneys, represented by attorney Gert Nel, said in an affidavit submitted to the Concourt that the directives infringed on the right of litigants to access the court. The directives, issued by Judge President Dunstan Mlambo, pertain to both the Pretoria and Johannesburg divisions. In terms of the directives, each law firm may only apply for a maximum of five matters per court roll a day. This is capped to a combined total of 20 matters per division, per day. These restrictions do not include urgent applications. A limit of 40 warrants of execution and subpoenas, per firm, may be issued per day. Nel said limiting the number of trial

Written by Nurina Ally and Mbekezeli Benjamin | Published in EWN on 10 April 2024 The Court has not delivered a single judgment this year. But concerns over the Court’s efficiency have been mounting for some time. We are now into the second quarter of 2024, and the Constitutional Court has yet to hand down any judgments. From a survey of the law reports, the court’s late start is unprecedented. Usually, within the first two months of the year, the business of the court in deciding consequential matters is well underway. By this time last year, the court delivered ten judgments. The year before, at least 13. In at least 15 matters, judgment has been pending since last year. Eight of those have been reserved for six months or longer. In other words, there are many litigants that have been anxiously waiting for the Court’s decision for months, and the backlog is growing.

Written by Lerato Mutsila | Published on 21 June 2023 The Law Society of South Africa has expressed concern about the Road Accident Fund’s treatment of lawyers lining up outside its offices. The Law Society accused RAF of subjecting the lawyers to unfair conditions and delaying justice for their clients The lawyers camped overnight to settle their client’s cases, only for RAF to fail to open its office doors The Law Society has slammed RAF for subjecting the lawyers to unfair treatment and impeding accident victims’ access to justice. Throngs of lawyers have had to endure long lines outside the RAF offices at Sammy Marks Square in Pretoria since noon on Sunday, 18 June, to negotiate block settlements. This comes after RAF released a notice informing legal practitioners about the dates and venues for block settlements. The notice indicated that the negotiations would be on a “first-come, first-served” basis. Committed

Written by Zelda Venter | Published on 21 June 2023 Picture: Jacques Naude/African News Agency (ANA) Pretoria – Hundreds of lawyers, desperate to have their clients’ claims settled directly with the Road Accident Fund (RAF), were again waiting for service yesterday after camping overnight outside Sammy Marks Square in the Pretoria CBD. While things were moving slightly yesterday after a futile overnight wait on Monday, the process was still painfully slow with the queues hardly moving. Proceedings were slow because only a few firms were allowed in at a time; and it took at least two hours for RAF staff to negotiate with each firm. The lawyers did not want to miss out on the opportunity to respond to the RAF’s recent invitation to negotiate block settlements, and again braved the bitter cold night to be first in line when the offices opened yesterday morning.Some posted videos of queues stretching

Written by Jonisayi Maromo | Published on 21 June 2023 File Picture: Jacques Naude / African News Agency (ANA) Pretoria – The Law Society of South Africa has expressed concern over the treatment of throngs of legal practitioners who queued at Sammy Marks Square in the Pretoria CBD in a bid to take up the offer from the Road Accident Fund (RAF) to negotiate block settlements for their clients who are accident victims. The RAF had sent a notice to legal practitioners indicating the dates and venues for block settlements. However, these negotiations would be on a “first come, first served” basis. Legal practitioners queued up since noon on Sunday, 18 June in order to be first in line on Monday. “On 19 June, the RAF offices remained closed and legal practitioners were informed that the offices will open on Tuesday, 20 June. Police were called in when legal practitioners

Written by Zelda Venter | Published on 20 June 2023 Picture: Jacques Naude/African News Agency (ANA) Pretoria – Chaos erupted yesterday as hundreds of attorneys queued at Sammy Marks Square in the Pretoria CBD, to take up the offer from the Road Accident Fund (RAF) to negotiate block settlements for accident victims. Several attorneys who did not want to be identified for fear of victimisation, told the Pretoria News that they had been queuing at the venue since noon on Sunday. “We did this to ensure a place in the queue as the RAF said it will be on a first come, first serve basis,” one of the attorneys said. According to her, she and her colleagues took turns to stand in the queue. To make matters worse, nothing came of their efforts, as the office set up by the RAF on the first floor of the Sammy Marks Convention