ConCourt throws out NPO's application to have Mlambo's directive declared unconstitutional

JOHANNESBURG - The Constitutional Court has thrown out an application by the Personal Injury Plaintiff Lawyers Association (PIPLA) to have a directive by the Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo, declared unconstitutional.

Earlier this year, Mlambo introduced the alternative dispute resolution mechanism for all civil trials in an attempt to ease the caseload in the division.

The move was met with legal challenges as PIPLA headed to the Constitutional Court, asking for direct access and to have Mlambo's directive invalidated.

Section 167 subsection 6(a) of the Constitution allows persons, when it is in the interests of justice and with leave of the Constitutional Court, to bring a matter directly to the apex court, making it a court of first and last instance.

In papers, PIPLA argued that granting it direct access was in the interests of justice to ensure that parties' rights to access the courts are safeguarded as enshrined in Section 34 of the Constitution.

The association submitted that the directive, which made mediation compulsory in civil trials, leaves those who cannot afford the alternative dispute resolution mechanism stripped of the fundamental right.

However, in a short order, the Constitutional Court said it had considered the application and concluded that no case had been made out for direct access and refused its application.