When Steven* received a simple summons for his outstanding e-toll bills, he thought nothing of it, and chucked it in the bin. He even had a laugh about it – there’s no way he’s going to pay that, and anyway, everyone he knows just ignores them. But just how does a summons actually work? Scorpion Legal Protection discusses summons to make sure you’re informed.
Scorpion Legal Protection’s advice
The legal issues surrounding e-tolls and SANRAL are still ongoing, and as such, we cannot lay out a step-by-step procedure for what to do. What we can do is explain what the law says regarding a summons and the legal processes.
The first step is to decide whether you (the defendant) are going to concede liability or defend the matter. If you decide to concede liability, you must inform the attorneys on record for the plaintiff, in this case, SANRAL, that you want to concede liability. You’ll then be required to make a payment arrangement.
If you decide to defend the matter, you will need to file a notice of intention to defend within the period stipulated in the summons. This will then be served on the plaintiff’s attorneys, and they will have to sign for it. After this, you must file this original notice of intention to defend at the court that has jurisdiction. Within 15 days, the plaintiff will need to provide you with their declaration. A declaration basically sets out the nature of the claim. You will then have to submit your plea within the number of days specified in the summons, which will give your detailed reasons of why you believe you are not liable to pay the money they say you owe. This document is called your plea. We suggest that you get an attorney to draft, finalise and file this document on your behalf.
After this, there is another lengthy legal process ahead that includes a close of pleadings and setting the matter down for trial. If the plaintiff states that these matters will be taken to the High Court, then the case will have to be placed onto the court roll. The current High Court roll is quite long, and as a result, it may take some time before the matter is heard.
Tips:
- The legal issues surrounding e-tolls are still ongoing, so there’s no one hard and fast rule on what to do; however, ignoring a legal document like a summons is never wise.
- If you ignore the summons, you could get a default judgment against your name and find yourself blacklisted.
- There is no law that says the courts or the opposition party have to let you know when a default judgment is made against your name.
If you have a query, follow us on our Facebook page and ask your question during our next Live Q&A (every first Thursday of the month).
* This is only basic advice and cannot be relied on solely. Names have been changed to protect identity.