The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), formerly known as the Appellate Division, is an

appellate court A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

. It is located in

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legislative capital Cape ...

, the "judicial capital" of South Africa.

History

On the creation of the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Tran ...

from four British colonies in 1910, the supreme courts of the colonies became provincial divisions of the new Supreme Court of South Africa, and the Appellate Division was created as a purely appellate court superior to the provincial divisions. It was the seat of some of the country's most outstanding judges including

Innes CJ Sir James Rose Innes (8 January 1855 – 16 January 1942) was the Chief Justice of South Africa from 1914 to 1927 and, in the view of many, its greatest ever judge. Before becoming a judge he was a member of the Cape Parliament, the Cape Col ...

, Watermeyer CJ, Galgut JA,

Wessels CJ Sir Johannes (John) Wilhelmus Wessels (1862–1936) was an Afrikaner judge of the Appellate Division from 1923 to 1936 and Chief Justice of South Africa from 1932 to 1936. Early life and education He was the son of a Cape solicitor J.C. Wessel ...

and Schreiner JA. In 1994 the

Constitutional Court of South Africa The Constitutional Court of South Africa is a supreme court, supreme constitutional court established by the Constitution of South Africa, and is the apex court in the South African judicial system, with general jurisdiction. The Court was fi ...

was created with jurisdiction superior to the Appellate Division, but it could hear only in constitutional matters. The Appellate Division, therefore, remained the highest court in non-constitutional matters. In 1997 the Appellate Division became the Supreme Court of Appeal and was given constitutional jurisdiction, though the system of two apex courts remained: the Constitutional Court was the country's highest court in constitutional matters, but the SCA was the highest court in non-constitutional matters. However, the Constitutional Court took a broad reading of its jurisdiction, and in August 2013 the position was regularised by an amendment to the South African Constitution which gave the Constitutional Court

general jurisdiction {{Globalize, article, USA, 2name=the United States, date=December 2010 A court of general jurisdiction is a court with authority to hear cases of all kinds – criminal, civil, family, probate, and so forth. United States All federal courts are ...

Judges

The court is composed of a President, a Deputy President, and the number of ordinary Judges of Appeal determined in terms of an Act of Parliament; at present there are 23 ordinary positions on the court . Cases before the court are generally heard by panels of five judges. Judges are appointed by the

President of South Africa The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of South Africa and is the commander-in-chief of the South African Nation ...

on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission. Judges of Appeal are cited in judgments with the surname of the judge followed by "JA". (The President and Deputy President are cited with a "P" and "DP" respectively, and acting judges are cited with "AJA".) the Judges of Appeal are: * Mandisa Maya (President) *

Xola Petse Xola Mlungisi Petse (born 10 July 1954) is a South African judge and Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa. Biography Born in Qokolweni village, Mqanduli in the Eastern Cape and matriculated at Bensonvale High School ...

(Deputy) * Mahomed Navsa * Visvanathan Ponnan * Halima Saldulker * Boissie Mbha * Dumisani Zondi * Nambitha Dambuza * Christiaan Van Der Merwe * Baratang Mocumie * Mahube Molemela * Tati Makgoka * Ashton Schippers * Fikile Mokgohloa *

Clive Plasket Clive Michael Plasket (born 3 October 1957) is a South African jurist and retired judge who served in the Supreme Court of Appeal from 2019 to 2022. He was formerly a judge of the Eastern Cape High Court from 2003 to 2019. Before that, he wa ...

Daniel Dlodlo Daniel Vuminkosi Dlodlo (born 4 April 1952) is a South African retired judge who served in the Supreme Court of Appeal from 2019 to 2022. A former attorney, he joined the bench as a judge of the High Court's Western Cape Division from August ...

* Caroline Nicholls * Yvonne Mbatha * Trevor Gorven *

Zeenat Carelse Zeenat Carelse (born 16 October 1966) is a South African judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal. Before her appointment to the Supreme Court, she was a judge of the Gauteng High Court between 2009 and 2021. She began her career as a public prose ...

* Selewe Peter Billy Mothle *

Wendy Hughes Wendy Hughes (29 July 19528 March 2014) was an Australian actress known for her work in theatre, film and television. Her career spanned more than forty years and established her reputation as one of Australia's finest and most prolific actors. ...

* Nolwazi Penelope Mabindla-Boqwana *

Malcolm Wallis Malcolm John David Wallis (born 8 July 1950) is a judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa. Early life Wallis matriculated at Durban High School and earned a BCom and LLB from the University of Natal. From 1973 he was in practice a ...

Sharise Weiner Sharise Erica Weiner (born 28 January 1954) is a South African judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal. Before her appointment to the Supreme Court in December 2022, she was a judge of the South Gauteng High Court from 2011 to 2022. She was admi ...

(Acting)

List of presidents of the Supreme Court of Appeal

List of deputy presidents of the Supreme Court of Appeal

References

External links

Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa official websiteDatabase of judgments from the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Supreme Court Of Appeal Of South Africa Courts of South Africa