The High Court of South Africa is a
superior court of
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
. It is divided into nine
provincial divisions, some of which sit in more than one location. Each High Court division has
general jurisdiction
{{Globalize, article, USA, 2name=the United States, date=December 2010
A court of general jurisdiction is a court with authority to hear cases of all kinds – criminal, civil, family, probate, and so forth.
United States
All federal courts ar ...
over a defined geographical area in which it is situated. The decisions of a division are binding on
magistrates' courts
A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings.
Courts
* Magistrates' court (England and Wales)
* Magistrate's Cour ...
within its area of jurisdiction. The High Court has jurisdiction over all matters, but it usually only hears civil matters involving more than 400,000
rand
The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is finan ...
, and serious criminal cases. It also hears any appeals or reviews from magistrates' courts and other lower courts.
The court and its divisions are constituted in their current form by the
Superior Courts Act, 2013. They replaced the previous separate High Courts, which had in 1997 replaced the provincial and local divisions of the former
Supreme Court of South Africa and the supreme courts of the
TBVC states ("Bantustans" created by the
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
government in the 1950s).
Important officers in a High Court division
Each division is headed by a Judge President and Deputy Judge President. The registrar keeps all the official court documents. The
family advocate must be consulted on all matters involving children, as the High Court is the "upper guardian" of all children in South Africa. The Master of the High Court keeps all the records relating to people's estates (whether they are deceased or insolvent). The
Sheriff delivers certain documents to the parties in a civil case, and also attaches property when a warrant is issued. The Director of Public Prosecutions, who used to be called the Attorney-General, is responsible for criminal prosecutions by the state. The
State Attorney is the lawyer who represents the state in civil actions (where the state is suing or being sued).
Divisions
The
Superior Courts Act, 2013, divides the High Court into nine divisions, one for each
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
. Some divisions have multiple seats of the court; the main seat has jurisdiction over the whole province, while the local seats have concurrent jurisdiction over some part of the province. The divisions are:
* The
Eastern Cape Division
The Eastern Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The main seat of the division is at Makhanda, with subordinate local seats at Port Eli ...
at
Grahamstown
Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London. Makhanda is the largest town in the Makana ...
with local seats at
Bhisho,
Mthatha and
Port Elizabeth
* The
Free State Division at
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legislative capital Cape To ...
* The
Gauteng Division at
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...
with a local seat at
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...
* The
KwaZulu-Natal Division at
Pietermaritzburg with a local seat at
Durban
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
* The
Limpopo Division
The Limpopo Division of the High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over the Limpopo province of South Africa. The main seat of the court in Polokwane opened on 25 January 2016. The court also has local seats ...
at
with local seats at
Thohoyandou and
Lephalale
* The
Mpumalanga Division at
Mbombela with a local seat at
Middelburg Middelburg may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions Europe
* Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands
** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...
* The
North West Division at
Mahikeng
Mafikeng, officially known as Mahikeng and previously Mafeking (, ), is the capital city of the North West Province (South Africa), North West province of South Africa.
Close to South Africa's border with Botswana, Mafikeng is northeast of Cape ...
* The
Northern Cape Division
The Northern Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa (formerly named the Northern Cape High Court and the Northern Cape Provincial Division, and commonly known as the Kimberley High Court) is a superior court of law with general jurisdictio ...
at
Kimberley
* The
Western Cape Division at
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
Circuit Court
Circuit Courts are also part of the High Court. They sit at least twice a year, moving around to serve more rural areas.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:High Courts Of South Africa
Courts of South Africa