Superior Courts Act, 2013 (Act No. 10 of 2013)Preamble |
NOTING THAT section 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, provides that the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law form part of the founding values of the Republic;
AND section 165 of the Constitution provides that—
| (a) | the judicial authority of the Republic is vested in the courts; |
| (b) | the courts are independent and subject only to the Constitution and the law, which they must apply impartially and without fear, favour or prejudice; |
| (c) | no person or organ of state may interfere with the functioning of the courts; |
| (d) | organs of state, through legislative and other measures, must assist and protect the courts to ensure the independence, impartiality, dignity, accessibility and effectiveness of the courts; |
| (e) | an order or decision by a court binds all persons to whom and all organs of state to which it applies; and |
| (f) | the Chief Justice is the head of the judiciary and exercises responsibility over the establishment and monitoring of norms and standards for the exercise of the judicial functions of all courts; |
AND section 166 of the Constitution provides that the courts are—
| (a) | the Constitutional Court; |
| (b) | the Supreme Court of Appeal; |
| (c) | the High Court of South Africa; |
| (d) | the Magistrates’ Courts; and |
| (e) | any other court established or recognised in terms of an Act of Parliament, including any court of a status similar to either the High Court or the Magistrates’ Courts; |
AND section 171 of the Constitution provides that all courts function in terms of national legislation, and their rules and procedures must be provided for in terms of national legislation;
AND section 180 of the Constitution provides that national legislation may provide for any matter concerning the administration of justice that is not dealt with in the Constitution;
AND item 16(6)(a) of Schedule 6 to the Constitution provides that as soon as practical after the Constitution took effect all courts, including their structure, composition, functioning and jurisdiction, and all relevant legislation, must be rationalised with a view to establishing a judicial system suited to the requirements of the Constitution;
NOTING FURTHER that, with the advent of the democratic constitutional dispensation in 1994, the Republic inherited a fragmented court structure and infrastructure which were largely derived from our colonial history and were subsequently further structured to serve the segregation objectives of the apartheid dispensation;
AND that, before the advent of the democratic constitutional dispensation in 1994, the Magistrates’ Courts were not constitutionally recognised as part of the judicial authority and were largely dealt with as an extension of the public service;
AND that, since the Constitution provides that the judicial authority is vested in all the courts, it is desirable to provide for a uniform framework for judicial management, by the judiciary, of the judicial functions of all courts;
AND RECOGNISING that the rationalisation envisaged by item 16(6)(a) of Schedule 6 to the Constitution is an on-going process that is likely to result in further legislative and other measures in order to establish a judicial system suited to the requirements of the Constitution,
PARLIAMENT of the Republic of South Africa enacts, as follows:—