Want to go to Court alone?

Like I have met clients who do not want to take a step without an attorney I have also met some of those brave (and maybe frugal) individuals who choose to handle their cases by themselves.

South Africa's Bill of Rights, which is found in its Constitution, has enshrined the right of all South Africans to access to the courts of law.

We have actually come a long way since the enactment of the Constitution and I will show you with the content of this article how much more accessible our courts have become.







The fact is, though, that it is not always such a good idea to handle a court case by yourself. Let's look at the different courts in which you may find yourself and how much you may need assistance when dealing with them:

1. Criminal Courts: Whether in the High Court or Lower Courts (Regional and District Magistrates' Courts) a complainant has the Prosecutor to assist him/ her to a certain extent. To what extent? Well- that extent is limited by the fact that the Prosecutor works for the State and handles the prosecution on the State's behalf. He/she may assist the complainant in the preparation for the trial, but complainant's may find that a Prosecutor does not necessarily have to continue with a prosecution regardless of how the complainant feels about the matter. This discretion, however, is regulated by law and public policy and the interests of victims of crime have to be duly considered in the exercise thereof.

When you are an accused person you may find that you can easily handle yourself when charged with minor offenses like assault where no serious injuries were sustained or shoplifting where the value of what was stolen is below R 1 000.00. This is especially true if you are a young first offender. Your chances of becoming imprisoned under such circumstances are just that much smaller.

When the stakes become higher you shall most likely hear the Judge or Magistrate advise you to seriously consider getting an attorney.

The Courts do their best to assist unrepresented accused persons, but they shall not teach you how to testify or how to cross-examine witnesses. That is something to think about.


2.  Civil Courts: With the exception of the Divorce Courts and the other courts that I shall mention below I shall be frank. These courts require specially drafted documents that you shall most likely not have the time to learn to draft. Whenever you find yourself being sued or in an application for a court order against you- or being he one who wants to sue or bring the application- you should rather not do this alone.

3. Equality Courts: The PROMOTION OF EQUALITY AND PREVENTION OF UNFAIR DISCRIMINATION ACT 4 OF 2000 has instituted these courts to adjudicate matters concerning unfair discrimination. Discrimination against any individual is unfair when it is based solely on the grounds of:

 "(a) race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth; or

 (b) any other ground where discrimination based on that other ground-

 (i) causes or perpetuates systemic disadvantage;

 (ii) undermines human dignity; or

 (iii) adversely affects the equal enjoyment of a person's rights and freedoms in a serious manner that is comparable to discrimination on a ground in paragraph (a)"

These Courts are actually very "user friendly" and complainants and respondents alike get assisted by the Clerk and the Presiding Officer. You can find yourself actually getting very far in this court without the help of an attorney. Still- many unrepresented complainants do not understand the true purpose of these courts and tend to bring matters to it that cannot be adjudicated there.

4. Harassment Courts: The Protection from Harassment Act 17 of 2011 has instituted these courts. They are found in virtually all Magistrates' Court Buildings (I don't think a circuit court will have them) and are intended to adjudicate matters in which an individual complains of being harassed. At present the definition of harassment in this act is this wide:


  

To add to this-"harm" can be financial, physical or psychological.

These Courts were modeled after our Domestic Violence Courts and can easily be approached without the help of an attorney. The Clerk and Magistrate give complainants a huge amount of assistance.


5. Domestic Violence Courts: Like I said earlier- the Harassment Courts were modeled after these courts. They are extremely user-friendly. These courts serve to combat the prevalent evil of Domestic Violence in our country and one should not expect a warm welcome if you are a party in a divorce matter who wants to use the harsh words spoken to you some months ago to get some sort of advantage in your divorce matter.


 6. Maintenance Courts: This court might not assist respondents as much as complainants, but respondents do get a lot of guidance from the Maintenance Officer. The complainant, however, get assisted by the same Maintenance Officer and a Maintenance Prosecutor. It can't be disputed, after all, that the money you spend on your attorney in such a court is better spent on your children.


There are also other forums such as the Rental Housing Tribunal, Small Claims Court and Consumer Tribunal that were specially developed to enable individuals to approach them without the need to appoint an attorney.


Even if you are going to litigate by yourself it never hurts to get advice before you act. The fact is- a large number of cases have already been decided before yours and an attorney often has the necessary knowledge and experience to help you find out the outcome of your intended approach before you get it from the Magistrate.

I feel quite at home in Court by now and shall gladly assist interested clients. I can be contacted here: