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

As previously reported, Mlambo last month noted that 85% of civil cases are settled on the morning of the trial date, even though the dates had been set down two to three years earlier.

TimesLIVE reports that 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 litigation.

The Office of the Chief Justice said the directive was issued following a ‘wide consultative process’ by the division with law bodies, practitioners, mediation organisations, mediators and litigants in general.

‘It is aimed at alleviating the backlogs and constraints that currently plague the division’s civil trial roll. The final directive takes into account all input and comments received from stakeholders,’ the office said in a statement.

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

TimesLIVE notes that the Mlambo said the comments were mixed, including 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.

However, he 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.

Full TimesLIVE report