EDITORIAL: Fix the Joburg high court

It is not especially difficult to make a moral case for the need for justice to be delivered quickly.

The careworn observation that “justice delayed is justice denied” is attributed to Willam Gladstone, the Victorian-era British prime minister, but the concept is as ancient as humankind’s abundant capacity to quarrel and can be found expressed in places as diverse as religious texts, 1215’s Magna Carta, and the observations of Martin Luther King.

No doubt due to its fundamental nature this long-established philosophical concept does not sully itself with the grimy business of detail, and least of all the critical nature of the administration of justice not just for families and individuals in matters of crime, family law and other vexations, but also for insurance companies and other businesses who need courts to adjudicate in the course of business.

This newspaper reported last week that in the high court in Johannesburg for matters in commercial court cases “litigants were likely to get hearing dates a year from now”.

“Litigants suing the police will have to wait until August 2027 for trial dates, while Road Accident Fund matters can only be heard in 2029,” our report said.

These delays represent an inexcusable delay and are therefore a failure of justice. It will negatively impact business confidence and people’s appetite for risk in our commercial capital city.

It will hurt more than just commercial litigants and cost the country far more than the resources required to capacitate the courts.

It is time to get it fixed.