This website is in transition. Please check back for ongoing development.

Home>>

Mission and objectives>>
Purpose of the Society, establishment and objectives

Firms directory>>
Alphabetical listing of firms belonging to the Law Society of Namibia

Complaints>>

Council>>
Council members, LSN structures and financial matter

Amended directions>>
Index and nature of amendments

The Act>>
Legal Practitioners Act 15 of 1995

Admission>>
to practice as a legal practitioner in Namibia

Rules>>
of the Law Society of Namibia

Term roll>>
Term roll of the High Court of Namibia

Superior courts>>
Website of the Supreme Court and High Court

Disclaimer>>

Tel.: +264-61-230263/088
Fax: +264-61-230223,
PO Box 714,
Windhoek,
NAMIBIA

Directions
Consolidated practice directions of the High Court of Namibia, 1997 - 2007

Note:

  1. The purpose of this exercise is to consolidate all Practice Directions issued since 1997. These Practice Directions are called: Consolidated Practice Directions (CPD) and are applicable and in force from the date of issue.
  2. The CPD are classified under the subjects that they cover.
  3. Practice Directions not applicable anymore are not included and should be regarded as withdrawn.
  4. Some of the previous Practice Directions have been edited.
  5. Where "days" are indicated in the CPD it is ordinary days and not Court days unless specifically indicated as the latter.
  6. The Registrar may provide notes explaining how his office implements certain Practice Directions.

Issued at Windhoek on this 8th day of May 2007.

JUDGE-PRESIDENT

Superior Courts of Namibia Website>>

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Updates

Section A: Divorce Proceedings
1. Marriage Certificates
2. Service of Divorce Proceedings on Adulterous Third Parties
3. Restitution Orders
(a) Service of Restitution Orders
(b) Subsequent order to a Restitution Order

Section B: Matters falling within the Magistrates’ Court Jurisdiction
1. Increased Civil jurisdiction of Magistrates’ Courts
2. Transfer of cases in the High Court falling within the jurisdiction of Magistrates' Courts

Section C: Labour Court
1. Dress code and mode of addressing the President of the Labour Court
2. Hearing of Labour Court Cases

Section D: Numbering of Court Documents in all cases
1. Action proceedings (liquid or illiquid), Applications, Provisional Sentences and Labour Court Applications
2. Criminal Appeals, Civil Appeals, Criminal Reviews, Admiralty Cases and Labour Court Appeals

Section E: High Court Roll
1. Civil Cases other than divorce cases
1A. Divorce Cases - Floating Roll
2. Civil Cases - Fixed Roll
3. Civil cases - partly heard cases and floating roll cases that could not be heard
4. Opposed Motions
(a) Hearing of Opposed Motions
(b) Filing Heads of Argument in Opposed Motions
5. Motion Courts
(a) Service of Summons
(b) Sessions of Motion Courts
(c) First Motion Court
(d) Second Motion Court
6. Duty Judge
7. Interlocutory Matters
8. Urgent Applications
9. Interpleaders
10. Appeals
11. Labour Court
12. Term Roll

Section F: Criminal Roll

Section G: Withdrawal of Counsel

ANNEXURE "A" TO CPD/E 1 (d)

EXAMPLE

Updates

3.10.2007: Section E - Divorce Cases - Floating Roll added, with effect from 30.11.2007.

A. Divorce Proceedings

1. Marriage Certificates

Legal practitioners who receive instructions in divorce matters should file a certified copy of the marriage certificate at the Office of the Registrar simultaneously with the notice of set down in divorce matters. This requirement notwithstanding, practitioners must still present the original marriage certificate or certified copy thereof on the date of trial.

2. Service of Divorce Proceedings on Adulterous Third Parties

(a) Where an alleged adulterous Third Party is resident in Namibia and his/her address is known, service of the summons should be effected on that person.

(b) Where such a Third Party is resident outside Namibia and his/her address is known, service of the process will not be required. In such a case a registered letter containing a notice of the proceedings will suffice.

(c) In all other instances, whether inside or outside Namibia, where it was not possible to determine the whereabouts of such Third Party, the Court may dispense with such notice or service, if it is shown that reasonable steps taken to ascertain the whereabouts of the Third Party were unsuccessful. Such evidence can be placed before the Court through the plaintiff when giving evidence or, if that is not possible, e.g. that enquiries were made by the legal practitioner, an affidavit by the legal practitioner setting out the steps taken will be acceptable.

(d) Where the above is not possible, Judges are encouraged not to take an unduly formalistic approach, but must be satisfied that reasonable steps were taken to comply with the Rule.

3. Restitution Orders

(a) Service of Restitution Orders

Service of a Restitution Order must be effected not less than 14 days before the first restitution date.

(b) Subsequent order to a Restitution Order

(i) If the return date of a Restitution Order (Rule Nisi) has to be extended it has to be extended to a fixed date falling on a Second Motion Court session day.

(ii) If the Restitution Order has been properly served, but the Rule Nisi cannot be confirmed on the return day, application must be made to extend the Rule to another (Second) Motion Court day.

(iii) If no service could be effected application must be made for new dates, either on the return date of the Rule Nisi or any other (second) Motion Court day.

<< top of page

B. Matters falling within the Magistrates’ Court Jurisdiction

1. Increased Civil jurisdiction of Magistrates’ Courts

(a) There has been an increase in the jurisdiction of Magistrates’ Courts published in Government Gazette No 1696 dated 6 October 1997 effective from 3 November 1997.

(b) Practitioners are informed that in the case of actions instituted in the High Court after 16 January 1998 and which fall within the jurisdiction of Magistrates’ Courts, costs will only be allowed on the Magistrate’s Court scale.

2. Transfer of cases in the High Court falling within the jurisdiction of Magistrates' Courts

In regard to those cases instituted in the High Court before the increase of the magistrates’ court jurisdiction practitioners should consider the transfer of such cases to magistrates’ courts or run the risk of only being awarded costs on the magistrates’ court scale, from after the date of such increase. This concerns cases which fall well within that jurisdiction and where there is no special circumstance requiring that the matter be heard in the High Court, such as difficult questions of fact or law.

<< top of page

C. Labour Court

1. Dress code and mode of addressing the President of the Labour Court

After consultation with the Labour Courts' Rules Board, the following practice direction is made:

(a) The President of the Labour Court and the Chairperson of a District Labour Court should be addressed as "Sir" or "Madam", as the case may be.

(b) The President of the Labour Court and the Chairperson of a District Labour Court should not wear judicial attire.

(c) Legal practitioners appearing before the Labour Court or a District Labour Court should not wear legal attire.

2. Hearing of Labour Court Cases

Opposed as well as unopposed Labour Court cases will be heard on Fridays at 10h00 and should be set down as such. No Labour Court case should be set down on the First Motion Court Roll.

<< top of page

D. Numbering of Court Documents in all cases

1. Action proceedings (liquid or illiquid), Applications, Provisional Sentences and Labour Court Applications

When a summons, application, provisional sentence summons or labour court application is filed for issuing purposes, a court file will be opened, the particulars of the litigants entered in the relevant registers and a permanent case number will be allocated and placed in the right upper hand corner of the file. The case number will appear on the file as well as all the relevant documents as follows:

(i) I 1/2007 - in the case of action proceedings
(ii) A 1/2007 - in the case of an Application case
(iii) PS 1/2007 - in the case of a Provisional Sentence case
(iv) LC 1/2007 - in the case of a Labour Court Application

2. Criminal Appeals, Civil Appeals, Criminal Reviews, Admiralty Cases and Labour Court Appeals

(a) In all the abovementioned matters permanent numbers will be allocated at the time the proceeding is commenced.

(b) The under-mentioned symbols will apply in the different matters, namely:

(i) CA No 1/2007 - Criminal and Civil Appeals
(ii) CR No 1/2007 - Criminal Review
(iii) AC No 1/2007 - Admiralty Court
(iv) LCA No 1/2007 - Labour Court Appeals

<< top of page

E. High Court Roll

1. Civil Cases other than divorce cases

(a) Up to 312 civil cases per term will be enrolled at 24 cases per week on a floating roll;

(b) These 312 civil cases will be enrolled at a predetermined Registrar's meeting for each term;

(c) The procedure of enrolment is the following:

(i) Practitioners intending to enroll civil cases on the floating civil roll shall complete a pro forma form provided to legal practitioners, requesting a specific number of days for the hearing of each case;
(ii) At the Registrar's meeting the Registrar will allocate provisional dates for such civil cases;
(iii) Legal Practitioners then have 14 days to formally set down such cases, providing an index of the Pleadings and paginating same, as well as ensuring that the Minutes of a Rule 37 Conference is filed;
(iv) It is only when the requirements of subparagraph (iii) and paragraph (d) of this subsection have been complied with, that the case will be formally enrolled by the Registrar;
(v) In respect of those cases where subparagraph (iii) has not been complied with no set down will be made and such cases will have to be set down afresh for the next term, following the procedure set out above;

(vi) Up to three Judges will be assigned to hear and try civil cases each week and a pre-trial hearing will be held with the presiding Judges on Monday at 14h15;

(d) No date for the hearing of any opposed action or application (except an urgent application) shall be granted by the Registrar to any legal practitioner acting for and on behalf of a litigant unless the legal practitioner applying for a hearing date annexes to the Notice of Application for a trial date a document setting out the legal and factual issues to be determined in the case. An example is set out in Annexure "A" hereto. (The summary should not be more than 100 words.)

1A. Divorce Cases – Floating Roll

(a) Not more than five opposed divorce cases per week will be enrolled on the Divorce Floating Roll.

(b) A Judge will be assigned each week to hear and try opposed divorce cases from Monday to Friday, and that Judge must conduct a pre-trial hearing at 14h15 on Monday in respect of Divorce Floating Roll cases.

(c) The procedure of enrolment is as follows –
(i) A practitioner representing an applicant for a trial date must ensure that pleadings have closed, a Rule 37 conference has been held and full discovery has taken place and that the case is ready to go to trial.
(ii) The practitioner referred to in subparagraph (i) must file a certificate confirming that the matter is ready to go to trial.
(iii)
The Registrar must place the relevant file before a Judge in chambers, assigned by the Judge-President, and such a Judge must satisfy himself or herself that the matter is ready to go to trial. If the Judge is so satisfied, he or she must inform the Registrar accordingly.

(d) It is only after the requirements in paragraph (c) of this subsection have been complied with in respect of a case that the Registrar will formally enrol that case on the Floating Divorce Roll.

(e) For the avoidance of doubt, all unopposed divorce matters shall continue to be placed on the motion court roll and be dealt with by the unopposed divorce motion court.

(f) The unopposed divorce motion court Judge shall also hear and try opposed divorce cases under this subsection.

(g) The amendments contained herein shall come into operation on 30 November 2007.

2. Civil Cases - Fixed Roll

(a) A civil case will only be placed on the fixed roll if:

(i) it is anticipated that such a case will run for more than 4 days, and/or
(ii) the Judge-President is satisfied that good reason exists for setting down a case on the fixed roll.

(b) Only one case will be set down on the fixed roll per week to be heard from Monday to Friday, unless the Judge-President directs otherwise.

(c) The same procedure as in subsection 1(c)(i) - (v) of this section is applicable in respect of the fixed roll and a separate Judge will be assigned to hear a civil case on the fixed roll.

3. Civil cases - partly heard cases and floating roll cases that could not be heard

(a) A partly-heard civil case, which was not finalised within the time allocated for it, will be placed on the next term roll on a date and time arranged with the Registrar before the postponement.

(b) Where a civil case which had been set down on the floating roll could not be heard because the floating roll cases (which take precedence over set down cases) did not finish and it was not possible for the Judge-President to assign another Judge to hear same, such a case will be set down by the Registrar for hearing during the following term. The legal representatives do not need to attend the Registrar's meeting and to comply with subsection 1(c)(i) - (vi) of this section.

4. Opposed Motions

(a) Hearing of Opposed Motions

Opposed Motions will be heard on Mondays.

(b) Filing Heads of Argument in Opposed Motions

(i) Legal Practitioners should comply at all times with the time periods with regard to the filing of Heads of Argument.

(ii) Heads of Argument of the Applicant(s) in all Opposed Motion Proceedings should be filed not later than 15 clear court days before the date that the Application is set down for hearing and those of the Respondent(s) not later than 10 clear court days before the hearing date. Both the Applicant(s) and the Respondent(s) must file a list of authorities referred to in their respective heads of argument together with such heads. Under no circumstances should the list not be filed with the heads of argument.

(iii) Supplementary heads of argument are discouraged, but if it is necessary, such heads of argument by the Applicant and/or Respondent should be brief and concise and must be filed not later than 5 clear court days before the hearing date. The Court will not accept additional heads of argument in the case on the day of the hearing of the matter.

(iv) If a practitioner fails to file Heads of Argument in time, a proper Application to condone such failure should in good time be filed with the Judge or Judges, as the case may be. Ordinarily, if the heads of argument of both parties, or anyone of them, are not filed within the time set out herein, the Application will not be heard. If condonation is granted, the Application shall be postponed either to a date previously arranged with the Registrar or to another date when opposed applications are heard. When no heads of argument have been filed in the time provided and no application for condonation has been made, the presiding Judge may in his/her discretion strike the Application from the Roll with or without an appropriate costs order, or hear the Application and adjudicate upon it without all the heads of argument and make such costs order as is deemed appropriate in the circumstances.

5. Motion Courts

(a) Service of Summons

If a period of 6 months have lapsed after service of summons, no order will be made in Motion Court unless the summons has been re-served.

(b) Sessions of Motion Courts

The First and Second Motion Courts will be held on separate dates. The First Motion Court will be held on Fridays at 10h00 and the Second Motion Court on Mondays at 10h00. Set down dates and times for Motion Court proceedings appear hereunder.

(c) First Motion Court

All Motion court matters, except divorce proceedings, will be placed on the First Motion Court Roll not later than 12h00 on the preceding Wednesday in terms of the relevant High Court Rule.

(d) Second Motion Court

(i) All unopposed divorce matters will be dealt with on Mondays in the Second Motion Court and will be set down not later than 12hOO on the previous Thursday.

(ii) The only exception in respect of enrolment is that if an opposed divorce case, which was set down on the floating roll (from Tuesday to Wednesday), becomes settled during the previous week just before the unopposed Divorce Court sits, the case may be set down for hearing in the Divorce Court, for which purpose Notices of Set Down and Withdrawal of Defence, etc. will be accepted.

(iii) Return days of Rcr orders, extended return dates and orders for new dates will also be heard in the Divorce Court in addition to unopposed divorce matters where evidence is presented to obtain a Rcr order.

6. Duty Judge

Subject to Section E(2), a duty Judge will commence duty at 12hOO every Wednesday and will be on duty until 12hOO the next Wednesday. The duty judge will conduct both motion courts and hear urgent and interlocutory applications.

7. Interlocutory Matters

(a) Except where the Rules of Court otherwise provide, there shall be not less than 5 clear court days between the date of service or delivery of notice of interlocutory applications, and the date of set down.

(b) All opposed interlocutory applications, opposed summary judgment applications, opposed Rule 43 and opposed Provisional Sentence applications will be heard on Tuesdays at 10h00 by the duty Judge.

(c) When such applications (other than urgent applications) become opposed, the duty Judge presiding in motion court should let those matters stand down until the end of the motion court roll. The legal practitioners of the applicant/plaintiff and respondent/defendant will then have to inform the Judge whether they want to proceed with or without heads of argument.

(i) If the parties indicate that they wish to proceed without heads of argument the duty Judge should postpone the matter to 10hOO the next Tuesday for hearing (while that Judge is still on duty).

(ii) If the legal practitioners indicate that they wish to file heads of argument, the following procedure is applicable:

The plaintiff/applicant files its heads of argument not later than 16h00 the following Thursday;
The defendant/respondent files its heads of argument not later than 16h00 the Monday thereafter;
(cc) The application will be heard at 10h00 on the following Tuesday by the judge then on duty.

(iii) If an interlocutory application becomes opposed the duty Judge may require that heads of argument be filed and in that event subsection 5(b) of this section shall apply.

(iv) The duty Judge may in his or her absolute discretion hear any application on any other day than those set out above.

8. Urgent Applications

(a) All urgent applications are heard by the duty Judge at 09hOO on a Court date, unless counsel has certified in the certificate of urgency that the urgency of the matter is such that it has to be heard at any time and on any day.

(b) If the duty Judge dismisses the urgent application for lack of urgency or refuses to condone non-compliance with the Rules of Court, but the applicant intends to continue with the application on the merits, the application has to be set down in the normal course as an opposed motion in compliance with subsection 5(a) of this section and the Rules of Court, and heard on a Monday during the following term.

(c)(i) If the duty Judge does condone non-compliance with the Rules of Court and issues a Rule Nisi, the return date must be a first motion court date;

(ii) If on the return date the Rule Nisi will only be confirmed, or discharged by agreement, the presiding duty Judge can confirm or discharge the Rule Nisi in Motion Court.

(iii) If the Rule Nisi is opposed, unless in circumstances other than where the order is anticipated in terms of Rule 6(8), the return date must be extended to a Monday during the next term in compliance with the Rules of Court and the parties must comply with subsection 5(b) of this section in respect of the filing of heads of argument.

(d) Presently, there is no provision for the so-called semi-urgent applications and, therefore, there is no semi-urgent roll.

9. Interpleaders

(a) Interpleaders in terms of Rule 58 will be set down to be heard by a Judge on Fridays at 09h30 and will be heard in open Court. Interpleaders will be set down for hearing by the Registrar after consultation with the Judge-President.

(b) Where the Court has ordered that the issue between the claimants be stated by way of a stated case, or otherwise be tried in terms of Rule 58(6) (c), the matter is regarded as an opposed motion and the appropriate CPD in respect of set down and filing of heads of argument apply.

10. Appeals

Hearing of Appeals

(a) Some criminal appeals and all civil appeals will be heard on Mondays at 10h00.

(b) Criminal appeals being prosecuted personally by prisoners and those in which amicus curiae counsel have been appointed will be heard on Fridays at 10h00 at the High Court Building located at the Windhoek Central Prison.

(c) All appeals will be set down for hearing on a continuous basis during the term by the Registrar, after consultation with the Judge-President.

11. Labour Court

Labour Court cases will be heard on Fridays as set out in Section C.

13. Term Roll

A term roll showing all civil and criminal cases to be heard during each week of the following term will be furnished to the Law Society and the Prosecutor-General as soon as there has been full compliance with the CPD regarding set down of cases. This roll will also appear on the High Court Website: http:// www.superiorcourts.org.na and will be available at the front desk of the Registrar’s Office.

F. Criminal Roll

1. Criminal trials will be heard on dates and times arranged with the Registrar and confirmed at criminal pre-trial hearings.

2. The establishment of a fixed and continuous criminal roll for pre-trial hearing in criminal cases are the following:

(a) The criminal roll of the Court for criminal cases pending in the High Court for trial shall be divided into-

(i) A fixed criminal roll; and
(ii) A continuous criminal roll.

(b) Notwithstanding the set down of a criminal case for trial on any later date, it shall be set down for hearing on the criminal pre-trial roll in the High Court as soon as possible after the commencement of proceedings therein in the High Court.

(c) The object of a pre-trial hearing shall be to curtail the duration of the trial by timeosly enquiring into and giving directions concerning the following matters:

(i) the delivery of the indictment and any further particulars thereto to the accused;
(ii) the discovery of the police docket's contents by the prosecution;
(iii) the appointment of a legal representative by or for the accused;
(iv) the notification of the trial date to the accused, his or her presence and, if he or she is younger than 18 years of age, that of his or her parent or guardian at the trial;
(v) the plea that the accused intends to tender at the trial;
(vi) the limitation of disputes likely to arise during the trial;
(vii) the admissions the accused intends to make at the trial;
(viii) the number and availability of witnesses for the prosecution and the defence;
(ix) the need for and availability of interpreters;
(x) the estimated duration of the trial;
(xi) the need for any direction under sections 77(1) or 78(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977(Act 51 of 1977); and
(xii) the enquiry into any other matter that, in the opinion of the presiding Judge, may curtail the duration of the trial.

(d) If an accused is represented by a legal practitioner-

(i) the prosecution may deliver to the accused and the Registrar not later than 10 days before a pre-trial hearing a pre-trial memorandum containing in sequential order each factual allegation that it wishes the accused to consider for purposes of making an admission at the trial and the presiding Judge may refer to such memorandum during a pre-trial hearing when he or she enquires whether the accused intends to make any admissions at the trial;

(ii) the accused may deliver to the prosecution and the Registrar not later than 10 days before a pre-trial hearing a pre-trial memorandum containing in sequential order factual allegations he or she makes in his or her defence that he or she wishes the prosecution to consider for purposes of indicating whether it intends to take issue therewith at the trial and the accused may refer to such memorandum when he or she considers the extent of corroboration required to establish such an allegation at the trial.

(e) If, in the opinion of the Court, the parties have not dealt with all the matters referred to in paragraph (c) in a satisfactory manner at the first or any subsequent pre-trial hearing, it shall, if possible, postpone the pre-trial hearing to the earliest subsequent pre-trial date before the trial date: Provided that it shall be deemed that the matters have not been so dealt with, if the following have not at least been recorded-

(i) that the indictment and, if requested, any further particulars thereto have been delivered to the accused;
(ii) that the police docket's contents have been discovered by the prosecution to the accused;
(iii) whether a legal representative has been engaged by or on behalf of the accused, and, if so, the name of that legal representative;
(iv) whether the prosecution and the accused have agreed on a trial date and that the accused has been informed thereof; and
(v) whether the accused is willing to record-

(aa) the plea he or she intends to tender at the trial and, if guilty, whether the basis on which the accused intends to tender it, will be acceptable to the prosecution;
the admissions, if any, he or she intends to make;
(cc) if applicable, the basis of his or her defence

and the particulars thereof;

(vi) the number of witnesses the accused intends to call and, if he or she is in custody, whether he or she requires assistance in procuring the presence of those witnesses at the trial and, if so, the names and physical addresses of those witness;
(vii) the languages that the witnesses are likely to testify in and, if any language other than English is likely to be used, whether an interpreter will be available for such purpose;
(viii) whether the prosecution and the accused have agreed on the period to be set aside for the trial and whether an adequate number of days have been set aside for it.

(f) If the Prosecutor-General has not already done so, he or she shall as soon as possible, but in any event, not later than 30 court days after the first pre¬trial hearing, set the case down for trial on the criminal roll: Provided that the days between 16 and December and 14 January, both inclusive, shall not be counted in the time allowed within which to do so.
(g) If, at any time before the trial date, either the State or the accused intends to apply for a postponement of the trial, he or she shall forthwith notify all other parties in the case and set the application for a postponement down on the first available date for criminal pre-trial hearings or on the trial date, whichever is the earlier.

(h) Where the accused indicates in the course of a pre-trial hearing that he or she intends to plead guilty to one or more or all of the charges preferred against him or her, the prosecution may indicate to the Court whether or not the plea of guilty on the basis as tendered by the accused will be accepted by it, and, if so, the Court may direct that the case be disposed of either on the pre-trial hearing roll or on the continuous criminal roll.

(i) If, at any time before the trial date, the accused wishes to plead guilty on any or all of the charges, he or she shall forthwith inform the Prosecutor-General of his or her intention to do so and of the basis on which the plea will be tendered, in which event either the accused or the Prosecutor-General may, upon not less than 10 court days notice to the other, set the case down for hearing on the first available date for criminal pre-trial hearings.

(j) The Court may direct that a matter be placed on the continuous criminal roll for hearing if-
(i) the accused and the prosecution agree that the case can be disposed of more expeditiously by hearing on that roll;
(ii) upon the application of either the prosecution or the accused at a pre-trial hearing, the Court is satisfied that, regard being had to the limited nature of the facts in issue, the availability of witnesses and the expected duration of the trial, the case can be disposed of more expeditiously by a hearing on that roll.

(k) If it appears to the Prosecutor-General that due to-
(i) the age of a child witness;
(ii) the deteriorating physical or mental health of a witness;
(iii) the limited availability of a witness who is not ordinarily resident in Namibia and the material nature of the evidence to be given by him or her; or
(iv) the contemptuous nature of the offence and the public's interest in the administration of justice or for any other good cause in the public interest or in the interest of the security of the State,

the hearing of a criminal case should be expedited, he or she may, with the leave of the Judge-President, set the case down on the continuous criminal roll.

<< top of page

G. Withdrawal of Counsel

1. A counsel who represents a client in a civil case or a criminal case in the High Court and who wishes to withdraw from the case because he or she has not been provided with sufficient funds to represent the client during the scheduled period for the hearing of the case, shall withdraw:

(a) not later than two months before the date on which the case has been set down for hearing; or

(b) if the period between the date on which a date of set down has been obtained or on which the legal practitioner is for the first time informed thereof and the date of set down is less than two months, not later than one week after he or she has obtained the date of set down or has been informed of the date of set down.

2. A counsel who has not withdrawn within the period prescribed in subsection 1:

(a) shall be deemed to have agreed to appear on behalf of the client during the period for which the case has been set down for hearing; and

(b) shall not, without the leave of the Court on good cause shown, withdraw from the case on the ground that he or she has not been provided with sufficient funds to represent the client during that period,

irrespective of the payment of his or her fees and costs prior to such appearance.

3. A counsel who withdraws for the reason mentioned in subsection 1 shall forthwith:

(a) inform the client of such withdrawal;

(b) inform the client of the date on which the matter has been set down for hearing;

(c) advise the client that, if he or she so wishes, he or she should immediately obtain the services of another counsel to represent him or her in the case on the date of set down and, if he or she does not have the financial means to engage the services of counsel, he or she may apply for legal aid to the Director Legal Aid, Ministry of Justice, Windhoek; and

(d) advise the client that, should he or she fail to obtain the services of another counsel, he or she will in all likelihood be required to present his or her own case or defence at the hearing.

<< top of page

ANNEXURE "A" TO CPD/E 1 (d)

CASE NR.: ……………………………………

PLAINTIFF / APPLICANT
DEFENDANT / RESPONDENT

SUMMARY IN TERMS OF CPD/E 1 (d)

Counsel for Plaintiff / Applicant
Counsel for Defendant / Plaintiff
Instructed Counsel for Plaintiff / Applicant
Instructed Counsel for Defendant / Respondent
Nature of Proceedings Action / Application

<< top of page

EXAMPLE

Summary of facts and Legal Issues

"Plaintiff instituted action against Defendant for payment in the amount of N$150 000.
Plaintiff alleges that the amount of N$150 000 is due and payable as a result of the fact that the Plaintiff complied with his obligations in terms of a written agreement entered into between the parties, in terms of which plaintiff had to do certain building work on defendant's property.
Defendant raised a special plea of prescription, and on the merits, relies on the exceptio non adimpleti contractus.

<< top of page