Amod v Multilateral Motor Vehicle Accidents Fund

The applicant, a widow married to the deceased in terms of Islamic law, claimed damages for loss of support arising from her husband’s death in a motor vehicle accident in 1993. The claim was brought under the Multilateral Motor Vehicle Accidents Fund Act 93 of 1989, which made the respondent liable only if the negligent driver would have been liable at common law. The marriage was not registered under the Marriage Act and, under existing common-law authority, Islamic marriages were not regarded as lawful marriages for purposes of a loss-of-support claim. The High Court (Meskin J) dismissed the claim, holding that the Constitution did not empower courts to eliminate established common-law rules. The applicant sought leave to appeal directly to the Constitutional Court.

Leave to appeal directly to the Constitutional Court was refused.

The case is significant for clarifying the respective jurisdictions of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal in matters involving the development of the common law under the Constitution. It confirms that the Supreme Court of Appeal is ordinarily the appropriate forum to consider common-law development in the first instance, even where constitutional values are implicated, with the Constitutional Court exercising a residual role.