Beinash v Wixley

The applicants, Joseph Leon Beinash and J B & L Nominees CC, had instituted an extensive number of legal proceedings over several years, many of which were unsuccessful and characterised as vexatious. In January 1998, the Witwatersrand High Court, acting in terms of section 2(1)(b) of the Vexatious Proceedings Act 3 of 1956, ordered that the applicants could not institute any further legal proceedings in any court without leave of that court. After unsuccessfully seeking leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal, the applicants approached the Constitutional Court, challenging the constitutionality of section 2(1)(b) on the basis that it infringed their right of access to courts under section 34 of the Constitution.

Leave to appeal was refused.

This case is a leading authority on the constitutionality of statutory mechanisms restricting vexatious litigation in South Africa. It confirms that the right of access to courts is not absolute and may be limited to protect the administration of justice and the rights of other litigants. The judgment provides an important application of the section 36 limitations analysis to section 34 of the Constitution.