Access To Justice Denied

Our Constitutional Right of Access to Justice was dealt a major blow by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judgment handed down on 25 June 2021, which overturned the Gauteng Court judgment in Thobejane and the Eastern Cape judgment in Gqirana.
 
The Thobejane and Gqirana judgments were progressive in the expansion of Consumer Rights by holding that the Banks must proceed with legal action against Consumers in the Magistrates’ Court closest to the Consumer, where the monies owed falls within jurisdiction of such Magistrates and/or Regional Court.
 
These two judgments ensured that Consumers were not forced to pay their attorneys and advocates the extensive legal costs that are incurred in order to defend legal actions instituted in the High Courts. Instead, Consumers must be able to defend the Bank’s actions in their nearby, local Magistrates’ Court at significantly less legal expense.
 
In fact, aforementioned judgments gave consideration to the right of access to justice, particularly for Consumers that are already struggling financially, and held that it was an abuse of process for Banks to institute proceedings in the High Court when they could have proceeded in the Magistrates’ Court.
 
Much to the delight of Banks, the SCA has gone in the opposite direction and held that a High Court is obliged by law to hear any matter that falls within its jurisdiction and has no power to exercise a discretion to decline to hear a matter on the grounds that another, less expensive court has concurrent jurisdiction.
 
The tragedy is that unless this SCA decision is taken on appeal to the Constitutional Court by the self-same struggling Consumers that are unable to pay hundreds of thousands of Rand in legal costs, the door to access justice has been shut firmly in our faces.
 
Nonetheless, our highly experienced legal team at Liddle and Associates Inc will continue to champion Consumer’s rights with both our directors regularly appearing in the Western Cape High Court to protect and safeguard our Clients’ homes and vehicles from being repossessed and sold in execution by the Banks.