Appellate Division Act, 1920

by enacted by the Parliament of South Africa

Act

To make further provision as to the constitution of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court and further to confer upon such division jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals from the High Court of the Protectorate of South-West Africa.

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(Assented to 29th May, 1920.)
(Signed by the Governor-General in English.)

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Be it enacted by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate and the House of Assembly of the Union of South Africa, as follows:―

Repeal of section ninety-six of South Africa Act and substitution of new provision.

1. Section ninety-six of the South Africa Act 1909 is hereby repealed and the following provision is substituted therefor:―

“96. There shall be an appellate division of the Supreme Court of South Africa consisting of the chief justice of South Africa and four judges of appeal.”

Consequential amendments of other sections of South Africa Act 1909, and of other laws.

2. (1) In consequence of the enactment by section one of this Act of the substituted section ninety-six of the South Africa Act 1909 the following amendments are hereby made in other sections of that Act:―

(a)

From section ninety-five the word “ordinary” in the second line is deleted;

(b)

from section ninety-seven the words “ordinary or additional” in the third line are deleted; and from the same section the words “ordinary judge of appeal or additional judge of appeal” in the sixth line are deleted and the words “or judge of appeal” are substituted therefor;

(c)

from section one hundred the word “ordinary” in the first line is deleted;

(d)

from section one hundred and seven the word “ordinary” in the second line is deleted.

(2) The two ordinary judges of appeal who were holding office immediately prior to the commencement of this Act shall become judges of appeal for the purposes of Part VI of the South Africa Act 1909 as hereby amended.

(3) Wherever in the Judges Salaries and Pensions Act 1912 or in any other law the expression “ordinary judge of appeal” is used that expression shall be construed as “judge of appeal.”

Appeal from High Court of Protectorate of South-West Africa.

3. The appellate division shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals from orders or judgments of the High Court created and constituted for the Protectorate of South-West Africa by Proclamation No. 21 of 1919 issued by the Administrator of that Protectorate or from orders or judgments of any superior court hereafter created and constituted for that Protectorate, in the same circumstances and subject to the same conditions as such division hears and determines appeals from an order or judgment of a provincial division of the Supreme Court and in cases of orders or judgments of such High Court or superior court upon application by way of motion or petition or on summons for provisional sentence or judgments as to costs only or on civil or criminal appeals from a magistrate’s court, an appeal shall also lie to the appellate division but only if that division has given special leave to appeal; and on any such appeals the appellate division may make such order as it would have made if the appeal had been from a judgment or order of such provincial division. The provisions of Act No. 1 of 1911, in so far as they relate to appeals from the Native High Court of Natal shall also apply mutatis mutandis whenever the High Court or superior court created and constituted as aforesaid has exercised original jurisdiction for the trial and punishment of crimes and offences.

Short title.

4. This Act may be cited for all purposes as the Appellate Division Act 1920.