The Gauteng High Court turned down an application which was aimed at a directive issued by Judge Dunstan Mlambo, before he was appointed as Deputy Chief Justice, regarding mandatory mediation.
A Full bench of the Gauteng High Court Pretoria has turned down an application brought by the Personal Injury Plaintiff Lawyers Association (Pipla) in its challenge against a court directive for mandatory mediation in civil matters before it can possibly go on trial.
The court did not rule on the merits of the application but it dismissed the application on a technicality. It was found that Pipla had first launched the application before it asked Chief Justice Mandisa Maya permission to add former Judge President of Gauteng, Dunstan Mlambo, as a respondent in the application.
The court pointed out that Section 41(1) of the Superior Courts Act is clear that permission must be obtained from the chief justice to cite Judge Mlambo prior to the litigation. The court concluded that as this was only done at a later stage, the proceedings were from the start defective, and the court had to declare it a nullity.
The matter concerned the validity of the directive introducing mandatory mediation in the Gauteng Division which was introduced by Judge Mlambo when he was still the head of the court. The directive is aimed at improving efficiency in the civil trial justice system.
