Pretoria - The country's Regional Courts will now have the power to deal with civil cases, increasing the public's access to justice, says the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
The new powers come as a result of the Jurisdiction of Regional Courts Amendment Act which was announced by President Jacob Zuma and came into affect on Women's Day.
The country's Regional Courts were established in 1952 to deal with serious criminal offences and hand out harsher penalties.
Cases that Regional Courts will now preside over include family disputes such as divorce, maintenance, adoption and matters relating to custody of minor children.
Disputes over movable and immovable property of between R100 000 to R300 000, which were previously dealt with by the High Court, can now be heard in Regional Courts.
Regional Courts will also have the power to deal with credit agreements between R100 000 and R300 000, as well as Road Accident Fund Claims between R100 000 and R300 000.
"The amendments increase access to justice to members of the public, in particular, women and children who go to courts daily for the resolution of family related disputes," the department said.
The department is confident that the amendments will reduce the time taken to finalise cases and ease case backlogs at both High Courts and Magistrate's Court.
The amendments could also mean reduced costs for those involved in court cases.
"Proceedings in the High Courts are complex to the extent that attorneys and advocates are usually instructed resulting in high litigation costs.
"Regional Courts have a reduced scale of costs in relation to the High Court, and simplified proceedings which include the use of mediation in resolving civil disputes," the department said.
