JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED

Sir,

I wrote this letter as a last resort, hoping those in authority would, by chance, read it. My company was taken to court in a civil matter and we defended the action at a huge cost (attorney and advocate paid).

At the end of the trial the judge reserved judgment, verbally indicating that he would hand down the judgment in two to three weeks; that was in September 2016.

Over a year later I have no idea as to when the judgment will be handed down. This delay is a great prejudice to my company and I have no idea how to proceed. My attorneys have written to the registrar of the High Court with no resolution forthcoming.

Is it common practice in civil matters for judgments to take over a year to be handed down? One cannot avoid the feeling of despair in that I feel that justice and the law have been compromised; I sure hope not, but why the delay?

I wish I could give your newspaper more details without compromising my company’s position, but I do feel that even writing this letter anonymously has done exactly that.

Doesn’t the registrar of the High Court have a register of pending judgments? Are judges monitored in terms of performance in their duties (timeous execution of justice)?

Can the honourable chief justice restore confidence in the Judiciary please. It would appear that there have been changes but not much has changed?

Anonymous by choice

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