Judgment Summaries

Avoid the mistakes of others by reading the latest important court judgment summaries with our unique insights on what action to take.

You need to know about and possibly take action when the courts hand down judgments or cases. It is a critical part of ensuring that your organisation complies with the law. But how are you supposed to monitor all judgments on an ongoing basis to find the relevant ones, read them to understand what the latest judgments deal with, and decide what action you might need to take in response to them?  Impossible? Don’t worry; we do this for you.

We continually monitor and provide plain-language summaries of all judgments or cases related to our focus areas. Our summaries highlight what action you might need to take in response. We do all the hard work for you to save you time.

Judgment summaries

Only some are linked below. To read all previous insights and be alerted to future insights, join the relevant Michalsons programme. You can view the public and the “Members only” ones if you are a member and logged in.

Katiba v Tools for Humanity and others | Biometric data

Katiba v Tools for Humanity and others is Kenya's landmark High Court decision on biometric privacy. Worldcoin-linked entities violated Kenya's Data Protection Act by collecting iris and facial scans in exchange for cryptocurrency. The court halted the project and ordered [...]

Mavundla v MEC: Department of Co-Operative Government and Traditional Affairs KwaZulu-Natal | GenAI

In Mavundla v MEC: Department of Co-Operative Government and Traditional Affairs KwaZulu-Natal, the Pietermaritzburg High Court dealt with the consequences of legal practitioners submitting false case citations, most likely generated by artificial intelligence (AI), in their court filings. Who should [...]

By |2025-04-09T11:47:14+02:00March 31st, 2025|Categories: AI Governance, Life@Law|Tags: , , , , |

Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) v V2 Digital and Another | Data migration

Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) v V2 Digital and Another case centres on data migration disputes and POPIA's provisions relating to data governance, after CETA terminated its ICT service agreement with V2 Digital. Who should care about this judgment [...]

De Jager v Netcare | Surveillance Evidence and POPIA

In De Jager v Netcare, the High Court considered whether surveillance evidence collected without consent was admissible under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). The case clarifies when personal information, including special personal information like health data, may be [...]

SCHUFA case | OQ v Land Hessen | Automated decision-making

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a landmark SCHUFA case or judgement (OQ v Land Hessen) on automated decision-making (ADM) and EU data protection about credit scoring. On 7 December 2023, it ruled that companies may [...]

Munetsi v Madhuyu | Disclosure of personal information

Munetsi v Madhuyu and Another involves the disclosure of personal information on social media without consent. The applicant sued the respondents to stop sharing his personal information online. He also requested a public apology and punitive costs. The court ordered [...]

Authors Guild v OpenAI | Copyright infringement

Authors Guild sues OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement for using seventeen authors' works to train their AI-based models. Who should care about this case and why? The Authors Guild sues Open AI in a class action. This is a [...]

Pinnacle Micro v Govender | BEC

This case highlights the importance of verifying banking details before making electronic payments, especially when receiving a change of instructions. Who should care about this judgment and why? Essentially all businesses face the threat of business email compromise. This judgment provides [...]

Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs (ENS) v Hawarden | BEC

In Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs(ENS) v Hawarden, ENS appealed the judgment handed down in Hawarden v Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs. The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) upheld the appeal and dismissed the original order from the high court. Hawarden may appeal this [...]

Complaint against OpenAI filed by NOYB

On April 29 2024, the activist group None of Your Business (NOYB) filed a complaint against OpenAI with the Austrian data protection authority (DSB). The complaint alleged that the processing of personal information by OpenAI, through its AI model ChatGPT, [...]

By |2024-05-22T08:45:53+02:00May 2nd, 2024|Categories: POPI and Data Protection|Tags: , , , , , |

Nkosi v Johannesburg Municipality | Access to information request

In Nkosi v Johannesburg Municipality, Nkosi requested access to the job evaluation and re-grading records in terms of PAIA. The Johannesburg Municipality refused their request. Who should care about this judgment and why? Employees and workers' trade unions because you [...]

ED Food v Africa’s Best Foods | Online commissioning

In ED Food v Africa's Best Foods, the court examined the legality of commissioning affidavits electronically, such as through video conference calls. It found that online commissioning is valid and stressed substantial compliance with regulations. The short answer is yes, [...]