Supreme Court of Judicature (Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation) Rules 2019

In these Rules —

Any reference to a Minister includes, where appropriate, the alternate authority appointed by that Minister under Part 8 of the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019 (Act 18 of 2019).

Any reference to a section, unless otherwise expressly provided, is a reference to a section in the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019.

Subject to the provisions of these Rules, the Rules of Court 2021 apply to any appeal mentioned in rule 3.

The following provisions of the Rules of Court 2021 do not apply to, or in respect of, an appeal mentioned in rule 3:

Order 20, Rule 7(1) of the Rules of Court 2021 applies to an appeal mentioned in rule 3, subject to the modification that the reference in that provision to “Order 19, Rule 7” is to be read as a reference to “Order 19, Rule 7(3), (7) and (8)”.

An appeal under section 17, 29, 35 or 44 shall be by way of rehearing and must be brought by originating application in Form 1 of the First Schedule.

The originating application must be filed in the Registry —

A supporting affidavit in Form 2 of the First Schedule must be filed at the same time as the originating application.

If the appellant is also applying for the Direction against which the appeal is brought to be stayed pending the determination of the appeal, the appellant must —

Apart from the power of the Court under sections 17(7), 29(8) and 44(8) to direct that the Direction appealed against be stayed pending the determination of the appeal, an appeal does not operate as a stay of the Direction or Declaration against which the appeal is brought.

The appellant’s originating application and supporting affidavit must be served —

The appellant must within 2 working days after the date on which the appellant’s originating application and supporting affidavit are served on the Attorney‑General, file in the Registry —

The Court may proceed with an appeal despite the appellant refusing or failing to comply with paragraph (2).

The Minister against whose Direction or Declaration the appeal is brought may file an affidavit in reply in Form 3 of the First Schedule.

The affidavit in reply may be deposed by a person authorised by the Minister mentioned in paragraph (1).

The affidavit in reply must be filed and served within 3 working days after the date on which the appellant’s originating application and supporting affidavit are served under rule 6.

An appellant must, after filing the appellant’s originating application and supporting affidavit in the Registry, attend before the Duty Registrar to request for a hearing date for the appeal.

The appellant must comply with paragraph (1) —

If the appellant complies with paragraph (1) within the time specified in paragraph (2)(a) or (b), the Duty Registrar must, unless the appellant requests for a later hearing date, appoint as a hearing date for the appeal a date that is 6 working days after the later of —

If the appellant files the appellant’s originating application and supporting affidavit in the Registry, but fails to attend before the Duty Registrar within the time specified in paragraph (2)(a) or (b), the Registrar may appoint a hearing date for the appeal as the Registrar thinks fit, being a date not earlier than 6 working days after the date on which the appellant’s originating application and supporting affidavit are accepted by the Registrar.

Unless the Duty Registrar directs otherwise, any application to stay the Direction against which an appeal is brought pending the determination of the appeal is to be heard together with the appeal.

Where each appellant in an appeal is an individual, the fees payable by an appellant on the filing of an originating application and any affidavit under these Rules are as specified in Part 1 of the Second Schedule.

Except as provided in paragraph (1), the fees payable by a party in an appeal are as specified in Order 25, Rule 2(1) of the Rules of Court 2021, read with the Fourth Schedule to the Rules of Court 2021.

The Registrar may, in any case, and on such terms and conditions as the Registrar thinks fit, defer the payment of the whole or any part of any court fees or hearing fees.

The Court hearing an appeal may, after hearing the parties, do any of the following on the ground that the appellant is impecunious or for any other appropriate reason:

An appellant who intends to request for a waiver or refund of any court fees or hearing fees must, if the request was not made at the hearing of the appeal itself, submit a written request for the waiver or refund to the Court hearing the appeal not later than one month after the appeal.

Subject to paragraph (2), an appellant that is an individual may not be ordered to pay any costs.

The Court may order the appellant to pay the costs of, or incidental to, the appeal if the Court is satisfied that —