From Monday, all new cases in the labour court must be initiated on the Court Online portal for issuing and enrolment.
This means the physical filing of papers in the labour courts is a thing of the past.
An expert from commercial law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (CDH) says the move to digital is a welcome step in keeping the South African judicial system in line with global best practices. The firm also believes the move should help reduce backlogs from application to judgment stage.
In a directive issued on March 28, judge president of the labour court and labour appeal court Edwin Molahlehi explained that in August last year the labour court adopted a phased-in approach to implementing the court online digital case management portal known as Court Online.
“This portal is aimed at providing a platform for legal practitioners and litigants in general to electronically file pleadings and documents relevant to their litigation in the labour court,” the directive read.
He said the first phase was implemented through practice directive 1 of 2024, which determined that all urgent applications be initiated through the portal from August 12 2024. After the successful implementation of the provisions of directive 1 of 2024, the labour court determined that phase two of the implementation, being the piloting of the Court Online portal for all applications brought before the court, be put into effect.
This applies nationally to all of the labour courts, namely, Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and Gqeberha.
Chantell De Gouveia, an associate at CDH, said from Monday, practitioners will upload an initiating document on the portal and the registrar will then issue a case number if all is in order.
She said the pilot programme had also tested whether documents from the CCMA could be filed to the portal and this had been successful.
De Gouveia said the portal will have the effect of modernising the labour court filing system. Before the new system, registrars were always inundated with large court files and litigants spent time queuing to access court files. She said the new system will assist registrars to get to the administration side of their work a lot easier.
In the directive, Molahlehi said no new cases initiated after April 14 would be issued in person.
“In preparation for the initiation of any matter on the court online portal, practitioners and litigants are required to register their personal details on the court online portal per the following website: https://www.courtonline.judiciary.org.za/#/ecfs
According to the directive, unrepresented or in-person litigants must be referred to the court online service desk located at the court, where designated court staff members can assist with case initiation.
All applications must be initiated in accordance with Rule 7 of the Rules of the Labour Court by uploading only the statement of claim or notice of motion on to the Court Online portal.
“The statement of claim or notice of motion must be duly signed. This is for the purpose of obtaining a case number.”
TimesLIVE
New era for labour court as it goes digital
Journalist
Image: 123RF
From Monday, all new cases in the labour court must be initiated on the Court Online portal for issuing and enrolment.
This means the physical filing of papers in the labour courts is a thing of the past.
An expert from commercial law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (CDH) says the move to digital is a welcome step in keeping the South African judicial system in line with global best practices. The firm also believes the move should help reduce backlogs from application to judgment stage.
In a directive issued on March 28, judge president of the labour court and labour appeal court Edwin Molahlehi explained that in August last year the labour court adopted a phased-in approach to implementing the court online digital case management portal known as Court Online.
“This portal is aimed at providing a platform for legal practitioners and litigants in general to electronically file pleadings and documents relevant to their litigation in the labour court,” the directive read.
He said the first phase was implemented through practice directive 1 of 2024, which determined that all urgent applications be initiated through the portal from August 12 2024. After the successful implementation of the provisions of directive 1 of 2024, the labour court determined that phase two of the implementation, being the piloting of the Court Online portal for all applications brought before the court, be put into effect.
This applies nationally to all of the labour courts, namely, Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and Gqeberha.
Chantell De Gouveia, an associate at CDH, said from Monday, practitioners will upload an initiating document on the portal and the registrar will then issue a case number if all is in order.
She said the pilot programme had also tested whether documents from the CCMA could be filed to the portal and this had been successful.
De Gouveia said the portal will have the effect of modernising the labour court filing system. Before the new system, registrars were always inundated with large court files and litigants spent time queuing to access court files. She said the new system will assist registrars to get to the administration side of their work a lot easier.
In the directive, Molahlehi said no new cases initiated after April 14 would be issued in person.
“In preparation for the initiation of any matter on the court online portal, practitioners and litigants are required to register their personal details on the court online portal per the following website: https://www.courtonline.judiciary.org.za/#/ecfs
According to the directive, unrepresented or in-person litigants must be referred to the court online service desk located at the court, where designated court staff members can assist with case initiation.
All applications must be initiated in accordance with Rule 7 of the Rules of the Labour Court by uploading only the statement of claim or notice of motion on to the Court Online portal.
“The statement of claim or notice of motion must be duly signed. This is for the purpose of obtaining a case number.”
TimesLIVE
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