The most recent list, published in October 2025, reflects the status of late decisions from almost a year earlier.
It has been more than five months since the last reserved decisions list was published. The most recent list reflects the status of late decisions from the second term through 2025, almost a year ago. List, published on Judiciary on 9 October 2025 websiteCovered the start of Term 2 in 2025, which began on 14 April or 1 May, depending on the court.
Instead of giving judgment immediately or immediately after the hearing or hearing is over, the court may reserve judgment. Judicial norms and standards State That the decision should be given within three months. In its report, GroundUp used a more generous benchmark of six months. The Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) has also recently used a six-month benchmark to determine whether any outstanding decisions are late.
GroundUp has since been publishing reports on late decisions 2017. We requested an updated list of late decisions from the OCJ on 12 December 2025. At the time, the OCJ said the reserved decision report was “currently in progress. It will be published once all necessary procedures have been finalised.”
What should I follow WhatsApp | Linkedin for latest headlines
GroundUp sent follow-up requests on March 3, 9 and 16 but received no response.
Reserved decision reports were previously published three or four times a year. But publication of reports has become irregular.
The first term of all courts ends at the end of March this year, yet the lists for last year's third and fourth terms have still not been published.
At the last report, 279 decisions out of a total of 1,568 decisions were pending at the national level for six months or more.
The Johannesburg Labor Court had the highest number of late adjudications, with 53 cases pending for more than six months. This was followed by 42 and 26 late judgments in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria and the Durban Labor Court respectively.
Without updated reports, it is impossible to determine whether the number of late judgments in courts has improved or worsened.