Today access to justice received a major boost following the conclusion of a cooperative agreement signed by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mr. Jeff Radebe and the Swiss Ambassador, Mr. Rudolf Barfuss on behalf of South Africa and Switzerland respectively. The agreement is an extension of a partnership that had been in place in the past four years on the revitalization of Small Claims Courts in South Africa. The agreement leads to an injection of R10 million by the Swiss government, through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation for a further period of four years.
The project has to date received R4, 2 million in donor funding, which translated into the establishment of 26 Small Claims Courts and the revival of 17 inactive courts. In addition, 16 Advisory Boards were revived during phase 1 of the project which ran from March 2007 to February 2011.
Phase 2 of the project, which runs from March 2011 until February 2015 will ensure that the courts are established on an incremental basis. For the 2011/2012 financial year, the Department plans to establish 30 additional Small Claims Courts which will increase the number of those currently available and operational nationally from 224 to 254.
In these courts claims are resolved speedily, inexpensively and informally and litigants conduct their own cases without legal representation. Due to the high utilization of these courts, the Minister adjusted in 2010 their monetary jurisdiction by increasing it from R7 000 to R12 000. In this way more matters are being dealt with up to the stipulated threshold.
Small Claims Courts normally deal with disputes that include monies lent amongst individuals, claims over movable or immovable property, property occupation or mortgage bonds, promissory notes and credit agreements. These courts also allow for people under the age of 21 to lodge their claims provided they are accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Claims can be lodged against other natural persons (individuals), companies and corporations but not against the State (including municipalities).
In an effort to ensure smooth running of these courts the Minister of Justice appointed an Advisory Board comprising of the Chairperson and the Deputy Chairperson for each Small Claims Court. The board oversees the general running of a Small Claims Court as well as the appointment of Commissioners.
In order to standardize the practice of the Small Claims Courts and enhance their performance, Deputy Minister Andries Nel in 2010 launched the guidelines for commissioners and clerks. These guidelines have contributed to the re-engineering of the Small Claims Courts and have clarified the procedures. They have dealt with the requisite skills needed by Commissioners and professionals to carry out their responsibilities effectively.
The revitalization of small claims court is part of the department's effort to ensure equitable and accessible justice services to all South Africans.