Electoral Court of South Africa
Bloemfontein, Free State
Address
Cnr Mirriam Makeba & President Brand Streets, Bloemfontein, 9301
Phone
051 492 4680
Matters Heard
- Appeals against decisions of the Electoral Commission (IEC)
- Disputes about the conduct of elections, under the Electoral Commission Act 51 of 1996
- Has the status of a High Court; its decisions are final
About Specialised Courts
A small number of South African courts are established by their own statute to hear one specific category of matter, rather than general civil or criminal jurisdiction. Several carry the same status as the High Court - meaning their judgments are appealable in the same way and their proceedings carry the same procedural weight - despite hearing only a narrow subject-matter range.
This category groups those bodies together: the Land Court (which took over the Land Claims Court's jurisdiction under the Land Court Act 6 of 2023, effective 5 April 2024), the Competition Appeal Court (competition law appeals), the Tax Court (disputes with the South African Revenue Service), and the Electoral Court (electoral disputes). Each has its own record in this directory with its specific jurisdiction and the matters it hears.
What unites this group is not subject matter but structure: each was created by its own Act of Parliament to solve a problem general courts were not well suited to - land reform disputes that need specialist knowledge of tenure and restitution law, tax disputes that need accounting and revenue-law expertise, competition disputes that need economic analysis, and electoral disputes that need to be resolved on a timeline elections themselves impose. A matter that fits none of these categories does not belong here - it goes to the ordinary High Court or Magistrate's Court structure instead.
What to expect
- Procedure at a specialised court generally follows the High Court model - written pleadings or affidavits, legal representation is standard, and proceedings can take months from filing to judgment.
- Several of these bodies convene at more than one location, or move between sitting centres rather than holding permanent premises - check the specific court's own record for how it sits.
- Because each hears a narrow, technical subject matter, attorneys who regularly appear before a specific specialised court are often the ones best placed to advise on a matter destined for it.
- Time limits for approaching a specialised court are often shorter and stricter than in ordinary civil litigation - an Electoral Court dispute, for example, has to be resolved fast enough to matter before an election, so its own rules set tight deadlines.
Related practice areas
Attorneys near this court
876 attorneys listed in Bloemfontein on this site.