Land Reform (Labour Tenants) Act, 1996 (Act No. 3 of 1996)RulesLabour Tenancy Arbitration Rules5. Meeting to plan arbitration |
| (1) | The judge calls a meeting of the parties and the arbitrator as soon as possible after appointing the arbitrator. The judge decides whether he or she needs to attend the meeting. If the judge does not attend, the arbitrator chairs the meeting. |
| (2) | The meeting may consider, and the chairperson may give directions on, one or more of the following issues— |
| (a) | Who the parties are, including whether — |
| (i) | any new parties need to be joined; |
| (ii) | there are any mistakes which the parties wish to correct in the way parties are named in the documents; |
| (b) | what the dispute is about, including— |
| (i) | questions and suggestions by the chairperson to clarify this; |
| (ii) | whether any party may amend any allegation in any document; |
| (iii) | whether any other cases should be heard at the same time because they are about similar disputes; |
| (c) | the evidence to be presented at the hearing, including— |
| (i) | whether any documents can be used without witnesses having to be called to prove that they are genuine; |
| (ii) | any further investigation to be carried out by the parties; |
| (iii) | whether the arbitrator will allow, or the parties will agree to, any evidence which courts usually reject because of the technical rules of evidence; |
| (iv) | whether the arbitrator himself or herself intends to call any witnesses; |
| (v) | whether the parties are willing to admit any facts so that evidence need not be presented about those facts; |
| (d) | details of the hearing, including— |
| (i) | whether any issues can be dealt with in a separate hearing (see rule 9); |
| (ii) | whether any site inspections or any other inspections are needed and what the arrangements will be for those; |
| (e) | any other matter which the chairperson wants dealt with. |
| (3) | If the judged does not attend, the meeting may consider, but the arbitrator may only make recommendations to the judge on, the following issues— |
| (a) | Whether any party should give more details about his or her case which are not in the documents in the dossier (further particulars); |
| (b) | what documents the parties want to use at the hearing and what documents the parties have which they should make available to the other parties (discovery); |
| (c) | whether the parties will exchange summaries of the evidence to be given by expert witnesses; |
| (d) | a date and venue for the hearing. |
| (4) | After considering the recommendations made under subrule (3), the judge will give directions on those issues. |
| (5) | The arbitrator may discuss with the parties possible ways of settling the case. The judge must not be present during any discussions about settlement. |
| (6) | The chairperson decides who must prepare minutes of the meeting. The chairperson must certify the minutes as correct. If the judge does not attend, the certified minutes must be sent to him or her within five days of the meeting. The Registrar must ensure that all parties receive copies of any orders or directions given by the judge. |
| (7) | The parties must carry out all directions and orders given at or after the meeting by the judge or the arbitrator— |
| (a) | within the time period set by the judge or the arbitrator; or |
| (b) | if no time period is set, within fifteen days after the direction or order comes to the attention of the party concerned. |
| (8) | The arbitrator may extend the periods referred to in subrule (7) but such extensions must not affect the hearing date determined by the judge. The party asking for the extension must show that there is a good reason for doing so. |