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 countri ...

. 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), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...

, 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, Trans ...

from four British colonies in 1910, the supreme courts of the colonies became provincial divisions of the new

Supreme Court of South Africa The Supreme Court of South Africa was a superior court of law in South Africa from 1910 to 1997. It was made up of various provincial and local divisions with jurisdiction over specific geographical areas, and an Appellate Division which was t ...

, 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, 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 Oliver Deneys Schreiner MC KC (29 December 1890 – 27 July 1980), was a judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa. One of the most renowned South African judges, he was passed over twice for the position of Chief Ju ...

. 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 court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

s 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 The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme law of the Republic of South Africa. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the republic, it sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of the Govern ...

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 ar ...

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 Nationa ...

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 Mandisa Muriel Lindelwa Maya Mlokoti (born March 20, 1964) is the first female South African Deputy Chief Justice. She is also the first female jurist who has served as President of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa (SCA) since 26 Ma ...

(President) * Xola Petse (Deputy) *

Mahomed Navsa Mahomed Solomon Navsa (born 24 May 1957) is a judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa and its Acting Deputy President in 2015."Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeal"SCA website Early life Navsa was born in 1957 in Edenvale, Gauteng ...

* 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 * Daniel Dlodlo * Caroline Nicholls * Yvonne Mbatha * Trevor Gorven * Zeenat Carelse * 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 * Sharise Weiner (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