If a party is dissatisfied with a decision of a Magistrate in a minor civil action, they can apply to the District Court for a review of the decision by a Judge [Magistrates Court Act 1991 (SA) s38(6)]. The application for review must be lodged within 21 days of the Magistrate's decision [Uniform Civil Rules 2020 r 214.1].

A notice of review of a minor civil action is filed using a Form 182A –Notice of Review Minor Civil Action, with a Form 182S – Review Grounds attached [r 214.2]. For more information about the court forms visit the court website.

The court Registrar will provide a notice (Form 191 – Notice to Party – Minor Civil Action Review) setting out the details of the review hearing.

A party to the review proceedings may file a Written Case (Form 192 – Written Case on Minor Civil Review) to set out any other evidence or submissions that they wish to put before the Judge in the review hearing [Uniform Civil Rules 2020 r 217.12 (3)].This form is optional. If a party wishes to file a Written Case they must do so at least 2 business days before the review hearing. Parties are required to attend the review hearing [r 217.12 (3)].

The Uniform Civil Rules 2020 give detailed information about the presentation of a case for review.

Unless the Court agrees, lawyers are not permitted to represent the parties. However, lawyers can help with the preparation of the written case, which may be useful to help identify and narrow down issues.

In McLeod v Mitchell [2014] SADC 129, the Court described the “unique nature” of a review, and the requirement of the Court to act “act according to equity, good conscience and the substantial merits of the case without regard to technicalities and legal forms”.

Upon review, the District Court may affirm the original decision, or rescind it and substitute its own decision. If the review arises from a default judgment or summary judgment, the matter can be remitted back to the Magistrates Court for hearing or further hearing [see Magistrates Court Act 1991 (SA) s 38(7)(d)].

Ordinarily there is no further right of appeal from the decision of the District Court; the decision is final. In very limited circumstances, a person may ask for a judicial review of the District Court decision, but legal advice should be obtained first.