Labour Relations Act, 1995 (Act No. 66 of 1995)Rules for the Conduct of Proceedings in the Labour Appeal Court5. Procedure on appeal |
| 1) | Every appellant who has a right of appeal must deliver a notice of appeal within 15 days, or any longer period that may be allowed by the court, on good cause shown, after leave to appeal has been granted. |
| 2) | The order granting leave to appeal must be delivered with the notice of appeal. |
| 3) | The notice of appeal must state whether the whole or only part of the judgment or order of the Labour Court is appealed against. If only part of a judgment or order is appealed against, the notice must state which part is the subject of the appeal. |
| 4) | Any respondent who wishes to cross-appeal must deliver a notice of cross-appeal. |
| 5) | A notice of cross-appeal must be delivered within 10 days, or such longer period as may on good cause be allowed, after receiving notice of appeal from the appellant. |
| 6) | The notice of cross-appeal must state the particulars in respect of which the variation of the judgment or order of the Labour Court is sought. |
| 7) | After an appeal has been noted, the appellant must serve a copy of the record of the proceedings in the Labour Court on each respondent and file four copies of the record with the registrar. |
| 8) | The record must be delivered within 60 days of the date of the order granting leave to appeal, unless the appeal is noted after a successful petition for leave to appeal, in which case the record must be delivered within the period fixed by the court under rule 4(9). |
| 9) | One of the copies of the record filed with the registrar must be certified as correct by the registrar of the Labour Court. |
| 10) | Every copy of the record must- |
| a) | be clearly typed or printed in double spacing on A4 standard paper; |
| b) | be paginated; |
| c) | be numbered on every tenth line; |
| d) | be securely bound in suitable covers disclosing the names of the parties and the names of the representatives of the parties; |
| e) | be divided into separate, conveniently-sized volumes of approximately 100 pages each: Provided that a volume may consist of a lesser number of pages if it is convenient that such volume consist in a self-contained separate portion of the record; |
| f) | include the judgment given by the Labour Court; |
| g) | contain a correct and complete index of the evidence and of all the documents and exhibits in the case, the date and nature of the exhibits being briefly stated in the index; and |
| h) | contain only those documents that were referred to in any proceedings in the Labour Court. |
| 11) | A document must not be included in the record more than once. |
| 12) | The record must not contain any of the following documents, unless they affect the merits of the appeal: |
| a) | Copies of subpoenas; |
| b) | notices of trial; |
| c) | consents to postponements; |
| d) | schedules of documents; |
| e) | notices to produce or to permit inspection; |
| f) | other documents of a formal nature; |
| g) | opening addresses; |
| h) | the record of oral argument; and |
| i) | heads of argument. |
| 13) | A list of the documents referred to in subrule (12) must be included in the record with the heading 'List of documents excluded from the record'. |
| 14) | The documents that were referred to in any proceedings in the Labour Court must be arranged in chronological order. |
| 15) | Any references in the record of evidence of any witness to any document or exhibit contained in the appeal record must reflect, in brackets in the margin opposite the reference, the page number in the appeal record of such document or exhibit. |
| 16) | If the decision of a matter on appeal is likely to turn only on a question of law, the parties may agree to submit the question of law to the court in the form of a special case. In that event, only those parts of the record necessary for the decision of the question of law must be lodged with the registrar. |
| 17) | If the appellant fails to lodge the record within the prescribed period, the appellant will be deemed to have withdrawn the appeal, unless the appellant has within that period applied to the respondent or the respondent's representative for consent to an extension of time and consent has been given. If consent is refused the appellant may, after delivery to the respondent of the notice of motion supported by affidavit, apply to the Judge President in chambers for an extension of time. The application must be accompanied by proof of service on all other parties. Any party wishing to oppose the grant of extension of time may deliver an answering affidavit within 10 days of service on such party of a copy of the application. |
| 18) | If an appellant delivers a notice of withdrawal of an appeal, or is deemed, in terms of subrule (17), to have withdrawn an appeal, any respondent who has noted a cross-appeal may, within 10 days of the date on which a notice of withdrawal is delivered by the appellant or the date on which the appellant is deemed to have withdrawn the appeal, deliver a notice of an intention to prosecute the cross-appeal. |
| 19) | If the respondent delivers a notice of intention to prosecute a cross-appeal, the respondent is for the purposes of subrule (8) deemed to be the appellant, and the period prescribed in subrule (8) must be calculated as from the date on which the appellant withdrew the appeal or on which the appeal was deemed to have been withdrawn . |
| 20) | The costs of preparing copies of the record or special case form part of the costs of appeal. |
| 21) | The registrar may refuse to accept copies of records or special cases that do not, in the registrar's opinion, comply with the provisions of this rule. |
| 22) | A party may on notice to all other parties apply orally or in writing to the Judge President for an appeal to be heard urgently. If the application is successful, the Judge President must give directions as to the future conduct of the appeal. |