Case name (full citation)/Legislation:
Uniform Rules of Court in terms of the Supreme Court Act 59 of 1959

Area of law:
Civil procedure – Difference between notification of intention to oppose and delivery of intention to defend.

Brief facts/summary:
Although this is not a new development in our law, attorneys sometimes overlook the slight, but significant, difference between, on the one hand, the application procedure whereby one notifies the opposing party of his/her intention to oppose and, on the other hand, the action procedure whereby one delivers his/her intention to defend.

The Uniform Rules of Court do not define ‘notify’ (or any similar form thereof) but define ‘deliver’ to mean ‘serve copies on all parties and file the original with the registrar’.

There is, therefore, an important distinction to be drawn between notification and delivery, in terms of the rules of court. In terms of Rule 6(5)(a), a ‘respondent is required to notify the applicant, in writing, whether he intends to oppose’ an application. By comparison, Rule 19 requires a defendant to ‘deliver a notice of intention to defend’.

Importance/value:
The importance of this is that, when opposing an application, one may simply notify the opposing side in writing and, as such, a simple letter sent via email or fax will suffice. And, as a result, it is therefore unnecessary to waste time and costs to deliver a notice to oppose.

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