Pipla turned to court against former Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo's directive making mediation before civil trials commence, compulsory.
A Full bench of the Gauteng High Court Pretoria has reserved judgment on an application brought by the Personal Injury Plaintiff Lawyers Association (Pipla) who is challenging a directive for mandatory mediation in civil matters before it can possibly go on trial.
This directive was earlier issued by then Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo, who has meanwhile been appointed as the country’s deputy chief justice. According to Pipla, the directive is unworkable and unconstitutional.
Since the start of this court term, there have been more than 4,800 applications brought in the Pretoria High Court alone to compel defendants to mediate, which amounts to about 600 per week.
Pipla is asking for an order that the directive, issued in April last year, introducing mandatory mediation in the Gauteng Division, be declared constitutionally invalid. Pipla told the court that Judge Mlambo acted outside his powers when he issued the directive.
