Gauteng judge president looking at ways to encourage litigants to consider mediation first

JOHANNESBURG - Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo says they’re looking at measures to encourage litigants to consider mediation before bringing their matters to court.

Mlambo said this would help with addressing the massive lead times for civil trials to be heard at the High Court in Johannesburg, with the earliest available dates now being in 2029.

“One of the options we think we want to seriously look at implementing is to encourage parties to first seriously consider compromising their claims through mediation.”

Mlambo said he had spoken with the deputy judge presidents.

“That we may want to ensure parties satisfy us when they come and ask for a trial date that they have made a serious effort at mediating and settling their disputes, and this is based on the fact that we’ve mentioned in the past that most cases when they come to trial, when a judge is allocated to them, their matter is settled.

"So, our thinking is these matters can settle much earlier than them coming to trial.”