Concern over reserved judgments backlog in SA courts

The latest report by the Office of the Chief Justice has revealed there is a backlog of 904 reserved judgments in courts across the country.

The December 2022 report shows that 184 of these judgments had been reserved and were outstanding for a period exceeding six months.

This is an increase from the 156 reserved matters in December 2021 over the same period.

The remaining more than 700 judgements had been reserved for less than six months.

The Johannesburg Labour Court has the highest number of reserved judgments sitting at 116, followed by the High Court in the North West with 112 reserved matters.

There were no reserved judgments longer than six months in the Bloemfontein, Middelburg and Polokwane high courts, respectively.

The Constitutional Court only has one judgment outstanding longer than six months.

According to judicial norms, judgments in both civil and criminal matters should not be reserved without a fixed date for handing it down.

[Breakdown of reserved judgements]

Research and Advocacy Officer at Judges Matter, Mbekezeli Benjamin, says acting judges seem to be the ones causing most of the delays.

“Most acting judges are either practicing attorneys or advocates, which means they are appointed for a short period to act as judges and after that period ends, they go back to practice and that’s where the problem starts,” says Benjamin.

He says the Legal Practice Council (LPC) should have clear rules that legally obligate acting judges to deliver judgments.

“If you don’t do so the LPC should take action against you because acting as a judge is an honour; it’s a public service and if you are failing to do that, it calls into question your ability as a practitioner.”

Benjamin adds that the Office of the Chief Justice should release these reports regularly in order to be able to track the performance of the country’s courts.

Just recently, the Judicial Service Commission recommended that Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela and Judge Nomonde Mngqibisa-Thusi, be suspended over reserved judgments.

In a statement, the commission also called for the establishment of a Judicial Conduct Tribunal to consider complaints that they failed to deliver numerous reserved judgments for more than two years.

“The JSC decided that the failure to deliver the reserved judgments if established, will prima facie indicate incapacity, gross incompetence or gross misconduct on the part of the judges, taking into account the extent of the delay and the prejudice suffered by the parties,” read the statement.