Judge President Mlambo issues directive to ease RAF, medical negligence caseload in Gauteng

Judge President Dustan Mlambo has issued a directive that all civil matters with no triable issues should be referred to a mandatory mediation process in order to alleviate case backlog in Gauteng high courts.

The directive became effective on Tuesday and will affect civil matters in Pretoria and Johannesburg high courts where challenges have plagued the civil trial roll for years.

Mlambo had circulated a draft directive for inputs and comments from medico legal experts, legal bodies and legal practitioners, in particular those specialising in personal injury claims such as the Road Accident Fund and department of health litigations.

Legal practitioners, who predominantly act for plaintiffs, objected to the directive, especially to losing trial dates as prescribed in the draft directive.Judge President Dustan Mlambo

Mlambo said the comments were mixed, including both objections to and support for the draft directive, as well as input that sought to add technical variations to the proposed directive.

"Legal practitioners, who predominantly act for plaintiffs, objected to the directive, especially to losing trial dates as prescribed in the draft directive. Of note, however, was the apparent lack of understanding of mandatory mediation by some practitioners who referred to the requirement as an imposition of a ‘hurdle’ in the dispute resolution process.

"There were also suggestions by some practitioners that case management by way of mandatory mediation exceeded the powers afforded to the Judiciary," said Mlambo.

He, however, argued that the overarching rationale for the directive was to provide an effective and expeditious litigation platform that guarantees access to justice service. To demonstrate this, Mlambo said as of February this year, the division's civil trial roll has trial dates issued as far ahead as 2031.

"This situation is clearly untenable and infringes on the right to access to courts," he said. 

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