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1 Definitions
(1) In these rules, unless inconsistent with the context 'apply'
means apply on notice of motion on the prescribed form in the Annexure,
and 'application' has a corresponding meaning; 'Court' means the
Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa; 'court day' means any day
other than a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday; 'judge' means a
judge or an acting judge of the Court sitting otherwise than in
open court; 'lodging of documents with the registrar' means the
lodging of documents with the registrar through an attorney practising
in Bloemfontein or, if a party is not represented by an attorney,
by registered post or by that party personally, after prior service
of copies of such documents on any other party; . 'party' or any
other reference to a litigant in terms includes a legal practitioner
appearing on behalf of a party, as the context may require; and
'registrar' means the registrar of the Court and includes any acting
or assistant registrar of the Court.
(2)
(a) Only court days shall be included in the computation
of any time expressed in days prescribed by these rules or fixed
by any order of the Court.
(b) The period between 16 December and 15 January
(both dates inclusive) shall not be taken into account in the calculation
of any period in terms of these rules.
2 Court terms
(1) There shall be four terms in each year as follows:
15 February to 31 March, inclusive;
1 May to 31 May, inclusive;
15 August to 30 September, inclusive;
1 November to 30 November, inclusive.
(2) A matter may be heard out of term if the Chief
Justice so directs.
(3) If the day fixed for the commencement of a
term is not a court day, the term shall commence on the next succeeding
court day and, if the day fixed for the end of a term is not a court
day, the term shall end on the court
day preceding.
3 Registrar's office hours
(1) The office of the registrar shall be open on court days from
08:30 to13:00 and from 14:00 to 15:30, save that no documents shall
be lodged after 15:00.
(2) The registrar may in exceptional cases accept
documents at any time, and shall do so when directed by a judge.
4 General powers and duties of registrar
(1)(a) The registrar may refuse to accept any document tendered
for lodging if, in the registrar's opinion, it does not comply with
these rules:
Provided that if proper copies of the rejected documents are resubmitted
within 10 days of rejection, such lodging shall not be deemed untimely.
(b) The registrar may provisionally accept, in
lieu of the original document tendered for lodging, a copy (including
a facsimile or other electronic copy) thereof, but the original
shall be filed within 10 days thereafter.
(2)(a) A notice of appeal or the first application
in an intended appeal shall be numbered by the registrar with a
consecutive number for the year during which it is filed.
(b) Every document lodged afterwards in such a
case shall be marked with that number by the party lodging it and
shall not be received by the registrar until so marked.
(c) All the documents delivered to the registrar
to be filed in a case shall be filed by the registrar in a case
file under the number of such case.
(d) The registrar shall maintain the Court's records
and shall not permit any of them to be removed from the court buildeing,
except as authorised by the registrar.
(e) Any document lodged with the registrar and
made part of the Court's records shall not thereafter be withdrawn
permanently from the official court files.
(3) Copies of any document forming part of the
Court's records may be made by any person in the presence of the
registrar: Provided that the registrar shall, at the request of
a party, make a copy of a recorded order, settlement or judgment
on payment of the prescribed court fees and the registrar shall
certify that copy or photocopy to be a true copy of the original.
(4) If a dispute arises as to be correctness of
any ruling by the registrar, the registrar shall refer the dispute
to a judge for a final ruling.
5. Power of attorney
(1) A power of attorney need to be filed, but the
authority of a legal practitioner to act on behalf of any party
may, within one month after it has come to the notice of any other
party that the legal practitioner is so acting, or with the leave
of the Court on good casue shaown at any time before judgment, be
disputed by notice, whereafter upon expiry of one month after service
of the notice the legal practitioner shall no longer so act, unless
a power of attorney is lodged with the registrar within that month.
(2) Every power of attorney shall be signed by
or on behalf of the party giving it, and shall otherwise be executed
according to law.
(3) No power of attorney shall be required to be
filed by -
(a) an attorney-general;
(b) a legal practitioner acting pro deo or amicus
curiae; or
(c) the State Attorney, any deputy state attorney
or any professional assistant to the State Attorney, or any attorney
instructed in writing or by telegram or facsimile by or on behalf
of the State Attorney or a deputy state attorney in any matter in
which the State Attorney or deputy state attorney is acting as such
by virtue of any statute.
6 Application for leave to appeal
(1) In every matter where leaveto appealis by law required of the
Court, an application therefor shall be lodged in duplicate with
the registrar within the time limits prescribed by that law.
(2) Every such application shall be accompanied by-
(a) a copy of the order of the court a quo appealed against;
(b) where leave to appeal has been refused by that court, a copy
of that order;
(c) a copy of the judgment delivered by the court a quo; and
(d) where leave to appeal has been refused by that court, a copy
of the judgment refusing such leave:
Provided that the registrar may, on written request, extend the
period for the filing of a copy of the judgment or judgments.
(3) Every affidavit in answer to an application for leave to appeal
shall be lodged in duplicate within one month after service of the
application on the respondent.
(4) An applicant who applied for leave to appeal shall, within 10
days after an affidavit referred to in subrule (3) has been received,
be entitled to lodge an affidavit in reply dealing strictly only
with new matters raised in the answer.
(5) Every application, answer and reply-
(a) shall-
(i) be clear and succinct and to the point;
(ii) furnish fairly all such information as may be necessary to
enable the Court to decide the application;
(iii) deal with the merits of the case only in so far as is necessary
for the purpose of explaining and supporting the particular grounds
upon which leave to appeal is sought or opposed;
(iv) be properly and separately paginated; and
(b) shall not-
(i) be accompanied by the record; or
(ii) traverse extraneous matters.
(6) The judges considering the application may
call for-
(a) submissions or further affidavits;
(b) the record or portions of it; and
(c) additional copies of the application.
(7) The party concerned shall lodge the required
documents within the period prescribed by the registrar.
(8) If the party concernedfails to comply with
adirection by the registrar or fails to cure the defects in the
application within the period directed, the registrar shall refer
the matter to the judges assigned to the application who may dispose
of it in its incomplete form.
7 Notice of appeal
(1) An appellant in a civil case shall lodge a
notice of appeal with the registrar and the registrar of the court
a quo within one month after the date of-
(a) the granting of the judgment or order appealed against where
leave to appeal is not required;
(b) the granting of leave to appeal where leave to appeal is required;
or
(c) the setting aside of a direction of a high court in terms of
section 20(2)(b) of the Supreme Court Act, 1959 (Act 59 of 1959).
(2) A respondent in a civil appeal who intends to cross-appeal shall,
within one month after receipt of the appellant's notice of appeal,
lodge a notice of the cross-appeal with the registrar and with the
registrar of the court a quo.
(3) Every notice of appeal and cross-appeal shall-
(a) state what part of the judgment or order is appealed against;
(b) state the particular respect in which the variation of the judgment
or order is sought; and
(c) be accompanied by a certified copy of the order (if any) granting
leave to appeal or to cross-appeal.
(4) The time limit for lodging of the notice of appeal may be extended
by written agreement of all the parties to the appeal.
8 Record
(1) An appellant shall within three months of the lodging of the
notice of appeal lodge with the registrar six copies of the record
of the proceedings in the court a quo and deliver to each respondent
such number of copies as may be considered necessary or as may reasonably
be requested by the respondent.
(2) The time limit for lodging of the record may be extended-
(a) by written agreement of all the parties to the appeal; or
(b) by the registrar upon written request with notice to all the
parties to the appeal:
Provided that the registrar shall not be entitled to extend the
period for more than two months.
(3) If the appellant fails to lodge the record within the prescribed
period or within the extended period, the appeal shall lapse.
(4) (a) If an appeal is withdrawn or has lapsed and no record has
been lodged with the registrar, a respondent who has noted a cross-appeal
may, within one month from such withdrawal or lapsing of the appeal,
notify the registrar in writing that he or she desires to prosecute
the cross-appeal. .
(b) Such respondent shall thereupon be deemed to be the appellant
and the period prescribed in subrule (1) shall be calculated from
the date on which the appellant withdrew the appeal or the appeal
lapsed.
(5) One of the copies of the record lodged with the registrar shall
be certified correct by the registrar of the court a quo.
(6) (a) The copies of the record shall be clearly typed on stout
A4 standard paper in double-spacing in black record ink, on one
side of the paper only.(b) Legible documents that were typed or
printed in the original, including all process in the court a quo
forming part of the record on appeal, and documents such as typed
or printed contracts and cheques (whether handwritten, typed or
printed) and the like shall not be retyped and a clear photocopy
shall be provided instead.
(c) The pages shall be numbered clearly and consecutively, and every
tenth line on each page shall be numbered and the pagination used
in the court a quo shall be retained where possible.
(d) (i) At the top of each page containing evidence, the name of
the witness and, at the top of each page containing exhibits, the
number of the exhibit, shall appear.
(ii) All references in the record to page numbers of exhibits shall
be transposed to reflect the page numbers of such exhibits in the
appeal record.
(e) The record shall be divided into separate conveniently-sized
volumes of approximately 100 pages each.
(f) The record shall be securely bound in suitable covers disclosing-
(i) the case number;
(ii) the names of the parties;
(iii) the volume number and the numbers of the pages contained in
that volume;
(iv) the total number of volumes in the record;
(v) the court appealed from; and
(vi) the names and addresses of all the parties for service.
(g) (i) The volume number and the numbers of the pages contained
in a volume shall also appear on the upper third of the spine of
the volume.
(ii) Each volume shall be so bound that upon being eased open it
will lie open without any manual or other restraint and upon being
so opened and thereafter repeatedly closed, the binding shall not
fail.
(h) The-
(i) judgment and order appealed against;
(ii) judgment and order granting leave to appeal; and
(iii) notice of appeal, shall if the record consists of more than
one volume, be contained in a separate volume. .
(i) The record, in the first or in a separate volume, shall contain
a correct and complete index of the evidence, documents and exhibits
in the case, the nature of the documents and exhibits being briefly
stated therein.
(j) Unless it is essential for the determination of the appeal and
the parties agree thereto in writing, the record shall not contain-
(i) argument and opening address;
(ii) formal documents;
(iii) discovery affidavits and the like;
(iv) identical duplicates of any document; or
(v) the court appealed from; and
(vi) the names and addresses of all the parties for service.
(g) (i) The volume number and the numbers of the pages contained
in a volume shall also appear on the upper third of the spine of
the volume.
(ii) Each volume shall be so bound that upon being eased open it
will lie open without any manual or other restraint and upon being
so opened and thereafter repeatedly closed, the binding shall not
fail.
(h) The-
(i) judgment and order appealed against;
(ii) judgment and order granting leave to appeal; and
(iii) notice of appeal, shall if the record consists of more than
one volume, be contained in a separate volume. .
(i) The record, in the first or in a separate volume, shall contain
a correct and complete index of the evidence, documents and exhibits
in the case, the nature of the documents and exhibits being briefly
stated therein.
(j) Unless it is essential for the determination of the appeal and
the parties agree thereto in writing, the record shall not contain-
(i) argument and opening address;
(ii) formal documents;
(iii) discovery affidavits and the like;
(iv) identical duplicates of any document; or
(v) documents not proved or admitted, and the registrar shall
mero matu disallow the costs, also between attorney and own
client, of such documents.
(7) (a) A core bundle of documents shall be prepared if to do so
is appropriate to the appeal.
(b) The core bundle shall consist of the material documents of the
case in a proper, preferably chronological, sequence.
(c) Documents contained in the core bundle shall be omitted from
the record, but the record shall indicate where each such document
is to be found in the core bundle.
(8)(a) Whenever the decision of an appeal is likely to hinge exclusively
on a specific issue or issues of law and/or fact, the appellant
shall,within 10 days of the noting of the appeal, request the respondent's
consent to submit such issue or issues to the Court, failing which
the respondent shall, within 10 days thereafter, make a similar
request to the appellant.
(b) The respondent or the appellant, as the case may be, shall within
10 days agree thereto or state the reasons for not agreeing to the
request.
(c) The request and the response shall form part of the record.
(d) The Court may make a special order of costs if no request was
made or if either of the parties was unreasonable in this regard.
(e) If the parties reach agreement as referred to in paragraph (a),
only those parts of the record of the proceedings in the court a
quo as may be agreed upon shall be contained in the record lodged
with the registrar: Provided that the court may call for the full
record and may order full argument of the whole case.
(9)(a) Whenever the decision of an appeal is likely to hinge exclusively
on part of the record in the court a quo, the appellant shall,
within 10 days of the noting of the appeal, request the respondent's
consent to omit the unnecessary parts from the record, failing which
the respondent shall 10 days thereafter, make a similar request
to the appellant.
(b) The respondent or the appellant, as the case may be, shall within
10 days agree thereto or state the reasons for not agreeing to the
request.
(c) The request and the respondent's response shall form part of
the record.
(d) The Court may make a special order of costs if no request was
made or if either of the parties was unreasonable in this regard.
(e) If the parties agree to limit the record, only those parts of
the record of the proceedings in this court a quoas as are
agreed upon shall be contained in the record lodged with the registrar:
Provided that the Court may call for the full record and may order
full argument of the whole case.
(10) Any person convicted of any offence who intends to appeal to
the Court and-
(a) has the right so to appeal; or
(b) intends to make application to the Coun for leave to appeal,
shall be entitled, upon request, to obtain from the registrar of
the coun from which that person intends to appeal, such number of
copies of the record or extracts from it as may be necessary, on
payment of the prescribed fees:
Provided that-
(i) if such a person is unable to pay the prescribed fee; and
(ii) the copies are necessary for the aforesaid purposes, that person
shall be entitled to obtain the same without payment of any fees.
(11) (a) Any question arising as to the inability of a person referred
to in subrule (10) to pay the prescribed fees or as to the number
of copies or as to what extracts are necessary shall be decided
by the registrar of the court a quo.
(b) If the registrar's decision is confirmed by a judge of that
court, it shall be final.
9 Security
(1) If the court which grants leave to appeal orders the appellant
to provide security for the respondent's costs of appeal, the appellant
shall, before lodging the record with the registrar, enter into
sufficient security for the respondent's costs of appeal and shall
inform the registrar accordingly.
(2) If the form or amount of security is contested, the registrar
of the court a quo shall determine the issue and this decision shall
be final.
10 Heads of argument
(1) Unless the Chief Justice otherwise directs-
(a) the appellant shall lodge with the registrar six copies of his
or her main heads of argument within three months from the lodging
of the record; and
(b) the respondent shall lodge with the registrar six copies of
his or her main heads of argument within two months from the receipt
of the appellant's heads of argument.
(2) When the lodging of an application or record of appeal with
the registrar does not allow the heads of argument to be lodged
and served in terms of subrule (1), the applicant or appellant,
as the case may be, shall file the same without delay and the respondent
shall thereafter file the argument in answer as soon as possible.
(3) (a) The heads of argument shall be clear, succinct and without
unnecessary elaboration.
(b) The heads of argument shall not contain lengthy quotations from
the
record or authorities.
(c) References to authorities and the record shall not be general
but to
specific pages and paragraphs.
(d) (i) The heads of argument of the appellant shall, if appropriate
to the
appeal, be accompanied by a chronology table, duly cross-referenced,
without argument.
(ii) If the respondent disputes the correctness of the chronology
table in
a material respect, the respondent's heads of argument shall be
accompanied
by the respondent's version of the chronology table.
(e) (i) The heads of argument shall be accompanied by a list of
the
authorities to be quoted in support of the argument and shall indicate
the
authorities to which particular reference will be made during the
course of
argument.
(ii) If any such authority is not readily available, copies of the
text relied
upon shall accompany the heads of argument.
(iii) The heads of argument shall define the form of order sought
from
the Court.
(f) If reliance is placed on subordinate legislation, a copy of
such
legislation shall accompany the heads of argument.
11 Powers of the Chief Justice or the Court
(I) The Chief Justice or the Court may-
(a) mero muto or on application, extend or reduce any time period
prescribed in these rules and may condone non-compliance with these
rules; .
(b) give such directions in matters of practice, procedure and the
disposal
of any appeal, application or interlocutory matter as the Chief
Justice
or the Court may consider just and expedient.
(2) Any power or authority vesting in the Chief Justice in terms
of these
rules may be exercised by a judge or judges designated by the Chief
Justice
for that purpose.
12 Application for condonation
(1) In every matter where condonation is sought, the application
shall be
lodged in duplicate with the registrar.
(2) Every affidavit in answer to an application for condonation
shall be
lodged in duplicate with the registrar within one month after service
of the
application on the respondent.
(3) The applicant shall lodge with the registrar any reply in duplicate
within 10 days of receipt of the answering affidavit.
(4) Every application, answer or reply shall-
(a) be clear and succinct and to the point;
(b) furnish fairly all such infonnation as may be necessary to enable
the Court to decide the application; and
(c) deal with the merits of the case only in so far as is necessary
for the purpose of explaining and supporting the particular grounds
upon which the application is sought or opposed.
(5) The judges considering the application may call for-
(a) submissions or further affidavits;
(b) the record or portions of it; and
(c) additional copies of the application, and the party concerned
shall lodge with the registrar the required documents within the
period prescribed.
(6) If the applicant fails to comply with a direction by the Court
or the registrar or to complete the application within the period
prescribed, the registrar shall refer the matter to the judges assigned
to the application who may dispose of it in its incomplete form.
13 Set-down
(1) The registrar shall, subject to the directions of the Chief
Justice, notify each party by registered letter of the date of hearing.
(2) A registered letter forwarded to a party's last-known address
shall be deemed to be sufficient notice of the date of the hearing.
(3) If the applicant or appellant fails to appear at the date thus
notified, the application or appeal shall be dismissed for non-prosecution,
unless the Court otherwise directs.
14 Oral argument
(1) If a matter has been set down for one day, subject to the presiding
judge's directions, the time for argument shall not exceed-
(a) two hours for the applicant or appellant's main argument;
(b) two hours for the argument in answer; and
(c) a quarter of an hour for the argument in reply.
(2) If a party intends to argue a matter in an official language
which differs from that in which the heads of argument are drawn,
the party shall inform the registrar accordingly in writing at least
three weeks before the hearing of the matter.
15 In forma pauperis
(1) Any party who is a natural person and who is of the opinion
that he or she is indigent may request the registrar for leave to
prosecute or defend an appeal in forma pauperis.
(2) A party shall be deemed to be indigent if he or she can satisfy
the registrar that, except for household goods, wearing apparel
and tools of trade, he or she is not possessed of property to the
amount of R10 000 and will not be able within a reasonable time
to provide such sum from his or her earnings or obtain legal aid.
(3) No such request shall be lodged with the registrar unless the
opposite party has been asked and has failed or refused to consent
to the applicant proceeding in forma pauperis within one
month thereafter.
(4) Any party dissatisfied with a ruling of the registrar under
this rule may apply to the Chief Justice for a revision in chambers.
(5) Whenever a party obtains leave to prosecute or defend an appeal
in forma pauperis, that party shall not be required to
lodge security in terms of these rules for the costs of the opposite
party or to pay any court fees notwithstanding the existence of
any order referred to in rule 9(1).
16 Amicus curiae submissions
(1) Subject to this rule, any person interested
in any matter before the Court may. with the written consent of
all the parties in the matter before the Court given not later than
the time specified in subrule (5), be admitted therein as an amicus
curiae upon such terms and conditions and with such rights
and privileges as may be agreed upon in writing with all the parties
before the Court or as may be directed by the Chief Justice in terms
of subrule (3).
(2) The written consent referred to in subrule (1) shall. within
10 days of it having been obtained, be lodged with the registrar
and the amicus curiae shall. in addition to any other provision,
comply with the times agreed upon for the lodging of written argument.
(3) The Chief Justice may amend the terms. conditions. rights and
privileges agreed upon as referred to in subrule (1).
(4) If the written consent referred to in subrule (1) has not been
secured, any person who has an interest in any matter before the
Court may apply to the Chief Justice to be admitted therein as an
amicus curiae. and the Chief Justice may grant such application
upon such terms and conditions and with such rights and privileges
as he or she may determine.
(5) An application pursuant to the provisions of subrule (4) shall
be made within one month after the record has been lodged with the
registrar.
(6) An application to be admitted as an amicus curiae shall-
(a) briefly describe the interest of the amicus curiae
in the proceedings;
(b) briefly identify the position to be adopted by the amicus
curiae in the proceedings; .
(c) set out the submissions to be advanced by the amicus curiae,
their relevance to the proceedings and his or her reasons for believing
that the submissions will be useful to the Court and different from
those of the other parties.
(7) An amicus curiae shall have the right to lodge written
argument, provided that such written argument does not repeat any
matter set forth in the argument of the other parties and raises
new contentions which may be useful to the Court.
(8) An amicus curiae shall be limited to the record on
appeal and may not add thereto and, unless otherwise ordered by
the Court, shall not present oral argument.
(9) An order granting leave to be admitted as an amicus curiae
shall specify the date of lodging the written argument of the amicus
curiae or any other relevant matter.
(10) An order of the Court dealing with costs may make provision
for the payment of costs incurred by or as a result of the intervention
of the amicus curiae.
17 Taxation of costs
(1) The costs incurred in any appeal or application
shall be taxed by the registrar, who, when exercising this function,
shall be called the taxing master, but his or her taxation shall
be subject to review of the court.
(2) Value-added tax may be added to all costs,
fees, disbursements and tariffs in respect of which value-added
tax is chargeable.
(3) Any party dissatisfied with the ruling of the
taxing master as to any item or part of an item which was objected
to or disallowed mero motu by the taxing master may within
20 days of the allocatur require the taxing master to state
a case for the decision of the court, which case shall set out each
item or part of an item, together with the grounds of objection
advanced at the taxation, and shall embody any relevant findings
of facts by the taxing master.
(4) The taxing master shall supply a copy of the
stated case to each of the parties, who may within 15 days of receipt
of the copy submit contentions in writing thereon, including grounds
of objection not advanced at the taxation, in respect of any item
or part of an item which was objected to before the taxing master
or disallowed mero motu by the taxing master.
(5) Thereafter the taxing master shall frame his
or her report and shall supply a copy thereof to each of the parties
and shall forthwith lay the case, together with the contentions
of the parties thereon and his or her report, before the Court.
(6) After the taxing master has so laid his or
her report before the Court he or she shall, subject to the directions
of the Chief Justice, notify the parties or their respective attorneys
of the date of hearing.
18 Attorneys
fees (see attached document  )
(b) that each description therein with reference
to work, time and numbers is in accordance with what was necessarily
done by him or her; and (c) that the items and tariff are drafted
and claimed strictly according to party-and-party practice rules.
The taxing master may, where it is evident from
the bill of costs that the requirements of (a), (b) and (c) above,
or parts thereof, have not been complied with, refuse to tax such
bill. The taxing master may also, when he or she is convinced that
a party-and-party bill of costs is claimed for work not done or
for work which belongs in an attorney-and-cIient bill of costs or
that excessive fees are being charged, deny the attorney the remuneration
mentioned in item G 1 if more than 20 % of the number of items or
the total of fees of the bill are taxed off.)
19 Fees of the court
The following shall be the fees of the court:
| |
R |
c |
| Lodging of any application |
10, |
00 |
| Lodging of an answering affidavit (each) |
10, |
00 |
| Lodging of a notice of appeal or cross-appeal (each) |
10, |
00 |
| Order of the court granting leave to appeal |
10, |
00 |
| For the registrar's certificate on certified copies of documents
(each) |
2, |
00 |
| For each copy of any document made by the registrar (per page) |
1, |
00 |
| Taxing fee with regard to appeals |
25, |
00 |
| Taxing fee with regard to applications |
25, |
00 |
20 Repeal of rules
The rules of the Supreme Court of Appeal published under Government
Notice R1207 of 15 December 1961, as amended by Government Notices
R980 of 22 June 1962, R120 of 31 January 1969, R679 of 30 April
1971, R1815 of 8 October 1976, RZ476 of 17 December 1976, R1547
of 28 July 1978, R248 of 8 February 1980, R1120 of 30 May 1980,2170
of 6 October 1982, -R644 of 25 March 1983, R840 of 22 April 1983,
R1995 of 7 September 1984, RZ093 of 13 September 1985, R2137 of
20 September 1985, R2643 of 12 December 1986, R1766 of 2 September
1988, R1930 of 10 August 1990, R2408 of 30 September 1991, R407
of 7 February 1992, R1884 of 3 July 1992, R872 of 21 May 1993, R410
of 11 March 1994, R418 of 14 March 1997, R490 of 27 March 1997,
R799 of 13 June 1997 and R783 of 5 June 1998 are hereby repealed:
Provided that any proceedings already commenced under the repealed
rules may continue thereunder, save in so far as the rules herein
contained may be applicable thereto without injustice or increased
costs to any of the parties.
21 Short title and commencement
These rules shall be called the Rules of the Supreme
Court of Appeal
and shall commence on 28 December 1998.
Annexure - Form 1
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