The Legal Resources Centre (LRC) has welcomed a High Court decision that Magistrate's Courts should be the first port of call for financial institutions seeking judgment against their clients, where matters fall within the lower courts' monetary jurisdiction. According to a GroundUp report, the LRC argued that 'measures must be taken to reduce the economic, social and geographical barriers that prevent a respondent's access to court' as required under the Constitution.

'This judgment is far reaching and incredibly important in affirming the right to access to justice,' said the LRC in response to a decision by a full bench of the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) on whether the High Court should entertain cases that should be heard by the lower courts just because both courts have jurisdiction under the law. The Judge President had also asked the court to consider whether there was 'an obligation on financial institutions to consider the cost implication and access to justice of financially distressed people' in deciding which court to use.

The court ruled that if banks brought their cases to the High Courts when the lower courts had proper jurisdiction, the High Courts could kick the cases down to the lower court.

The case arose when 13 matters; reduced to eight after several defendants settled their arrears or the cases were withdrawn, came before the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria). The applicants were banks which wanted default judgments against debtors and orders declaring that their homes could be sold in execution (on auction).

In each case, the application was brought in the High Court, despite the fact that it fell within the monetary jurisdiction of the Magistrate's Court. The arrear amounts owing by the eight defendants varied from R7 700 to R20 000. The total loan amounts being claimed by the banks varied from R95 000 to R255 000.

Judgment

Full GroundUp report