The Eastern Cape Division of the

High Court of South Africa The High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law in South Africa. It is divided into nine provincial divisions, some of which sit in more than one location. Each High Court division has general jurisdiction over a defined geographica ...

is a

superior Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places *Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lake ...

court of law A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordan ...

with

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 ...

over the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

province 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 coun ...

. The main seat of the division is at Makhanda, with subordinate local seats at

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, So ...

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the ...

Bhisho Bhisho (formerly Bisho) is the capital of the Eastern Cape province in South Africa. The Office of the Premier, Provincial Legislature and many other government departments are headquartered in the town. The town, three kilometres from Qonce and ...

and

Mthatha Mthatha , formerly Umtata, is the main city of the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality in Eastern Cape province of South Africa and the capital of OR Tambo District Municipality. The city has an airport, previously known as the K. D. Matan ...

. the Judge President of the division is Selby Mbenenge.

History

A superior court was first established at Grahamstown in 1864, as the Court of the Eastern Districts of the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is ...

, to ease access to justice for the residents of what is now the Eastern Cape. The Eastern Districts Court was subordinate to the Supreme Court of the Cape of Good Hope in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, which had concurrent jurisdiction over the eastern districts. When 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, Tr ...

was created in 1910, the Eastern Districts Court became the Eastern Districts Local Division of the

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 th ...

. In 1957 the division was removed from the concurrent jurisdiction of the court at Cape Town and renamed as the Eastern Cape Provincial Division. In 1974 the South Eastern Cape Local Division was established in

to serve that city and the surrounding districts, although the Grahamstown court retained concurrent jurisdiction; that court is now a local seat of the division. In 1973 the

Transkei Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ba ...

was removed from the jurisdiction of the Grahamstown court when the Transkeian High Court was established at

. When the Transkei received nominal independence from South Africa, that court became the Supreme Court of the Transkei. Initially decisions could still be appealed from the court to the Appellate Division of the

, but in 1979 an Appellate Division was established in the Supreme Court of Transkei. A similar process took place in the

Ciskei Ciskei (, or ) was a Bantustan for the Xhosa people-located in the southeast of South Africa. It covered an area of , almost entirely surrounded by what was then the Cape Province, and possessed a small coastline along the shore of the Indian O ...

, which received nominal independence and established its own Supreme Court at

Zwelitsha Zwelitsha is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It forms part of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. History Zwelitsha was created in 1947 as corridor township to King William's Town to provide labour for the Good Hope ...

in 1981. In 1984 an Appellate Division was established and the court moved to new buildings in

. When the Transkei and Ciskei were reincorporated in South Africa on 27 April 1994, their Supreme Courts remained in existence, but three months later their Appellate Divisions were abolished and their jurisdiction transferred to the South African Appellate Division. When the final

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

came into force the remaining General Divisions became High Courts of South Africa, known as the Transkei Division and the Ciskei Division. In 2013 under the Superior Courts Act, 2013 they became local seats of the Eastern Cape division, once again subordinate to Grahamstown. In December 2019 the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa ruled against the ban of children without

birth certificate A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a person. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation of the ensui ...

s from receiving

basic education According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), basic education comprises the two stages primary education and lower secondary education. Universal basic education Basic education featured heavily in the 1997 ISCED ...

in South Africa. The court ruled that "It is an important socioeconomic right directed, among other things, at promoting and developing a child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to his or her fullest potential" and that "Basic education also provides a foundation for a child’s lifetime learning and work opportunities."

History

Seats

References

External links