Justice Organization (South Africa)
The judicial organization in South Africa differentiates between a constitutional jurisdiction and an ordinary jurisdiction. In addition to the courts, there is a public prosecutor's office as the prosecuting authority.
The Constitutional Court of the Republic of South Africa in Johannesburg is responsible for interpreting the constitution. The Chief Justice chairs the meeting . The Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa , based in Bloemfontein, is the highest court for all other legal issues.
On the other hand, the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa is at the top of the ordinary jurisdiction . He is responsible for the 14 divisions of the High Court , which are essentially responsible for the respective province, such as the Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa . Deviations result from history until 1994, when the province of Transvaal extended over several provinces today, of which Limpopo until the 2010s its own Division received and the eastern province of North West and Mpumalanga still no own divisions have. In contrast, exist today in Mthatha , mahikeng and Thohoyandou division that has its roots in the Supreme Court of the former homelands have. The division of the Eastern Cape Province is also based in Bhisho in the former homeland of Ciskei . The jurisdiction of the divisions extends to criminal and civil law .
These include the Regional Courts and, at the district level, the Magistrate's Courts . The judges of the approximately 350 Magistrate's Courts can impose up to three years in prison in criminal proceedings. You are not allowed to negotiate cases of treason , murder , terrorism , sabotage and rape . Fines may not exceed 100,000 rand, in civil law the highest possible amount in dispute is 200,000 rand. The Regional Courts can try all crimes except high treason. The maximum penalty is 20 years imprisonment or a fine of 300,000 rand. Civil proceedings are carried out up to 400,000 rand, the amount in dispute in the case of divorce is unlimited.
Disputes of up to Rand 15,000 are negotiated at the Small Claims Courts . Traditional lawsuits are conducted locally by chiefs and headmen in common law .
There are also special courts such as the Labor Court with the Labor Appeal Court (labor court with appeals court), the Land Claims Court (court for property issues), the Electoral Court (electoral court) and the Income Tax Court (tax court). The South African National Defense Force has its own jurisdiction.
The prosecution is run by the National Prosecuting Authority . The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development , based in Pretoria, headed by the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, has national jurisdiction over the courts .
literature
- CG Van der Merwe, JE Du Plessis: Introduction to the law of South Africa . Kluwer Law International, 2004, ISBN 978-90-411-2282-7 .
- Reinhard Zimmermann : The Roman-Dutch law in South Africa. Introduction to the basics and usus hodiernus . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1983, ISBN 978-3-534-09121-8 .
- Konrad Zweigert , Hein Kötz : Introduction to Comparative Law . 3. Edition. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 1996, B. § 16 VI., P. 227-231 .
- Jacques E. du Plessis: South Africa . In: Jan M. Smits (Ed.): Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law . Edward Elgar, Cheltenham / Northampton, MA 2006, ISBN 978-1-84542-013-0 , pp. 667-671 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k South African courts at justice.gov.za (English), accessed on February 13, 2018
- ↑ Office of the Chief Justice ( Memento of the original from February 17, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at judiciary.org.za, accessed February 12, 2018
- ↑ a b James Lekhuleni: Regional court to district court: horizontal and vertical application. derebus.org.za from March 1, 2017 (English), accessed on February 16, 2018
- ^ Department website , accessed February 16, 2018
