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.

OUTA v SANRAL: when may you refuse to disclose?

In Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse v South African National Roads Agency, known as 'OUTA' and 'SANRAL' respectively, the court upheld SANRAL's refusal to disclose sensitive commercial information, citing PAIA protections. Who should care about this judgment and why? Public administrators [...]

Parker v Forsyth NO | Lessons for using AI for legal research

The case of Parker v Forsyth NO sheds light on the potential pitfalls of relying solely on AI for legal research. This article delves into the case details and examines the implications of using AI-generated content without proper verification. [...]

By |2024-08-26T21:49:32+02:00July 11th, 2023|Categories: AI Governance, Life@Law|Tags: , , |

EU AI Act case studies

If the ability to change is the measure of intelligence, the ever-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) seems to push that idea to the maximum. The possibilities appear boundless, from the current state of generative AI to the prospect of [...]

Blind SA v Minister of Trade

In Blind SA v Minister of Trade, the Constitutional Court declared sections of the Copyright Act unconstitutional. People with visual and print disabilities can now access published works in accessible formats like braille, audio and DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System). [...]

GDPR enforcement actions – March 2023

As the saying goes, "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb". Regarding GDPR enforcement actions collated in March 2023, the lion has roared. Recent enforcement actions related to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in [...]

Gerber v PSG Wealth Financial Planning | BEC

The main legal issue involved the court determining whether the investment company (PSG Wealth Financial Planning) had a contractual obligation to protect their client (Gerber) against financial losses caused by cybercrime, specifically when a fraudster hacked the client's email and [...]

Safi v Gascoigne | BEC

In Safi v Gascoigne, Safi sued Gascoigne Randon and Associates, a conveyancing firm, for a loss of R889,308.50 from a business email compromise (BEC).  Who should care about this judgment and why? The public because they need to be aware [...]

Your duty of care regards information security

Every organisation has a duty of care to establish and maintain appropriate information security. The judgment in Hawarden vs ENS illustrates that no modern business can operate properly and lawfully without establishing and maintaining appropriate information security. The facts of [...]

Hartog v Daly | Opening a bank account

In Hartog v Daly, the court held Hartog liable for monies that he paid into a fraudster's bank account. The fraudster unlawfully intercepted an email communication between Hartog and his client by sending Hartog an email with instructions to [...]

Hawarden v Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs (ENS) | BEC

In Hawarden v Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs (ENS), Hawarden succeeded in suing ENS for the loss of R5.5 million because of a Business Email Compromise (BEC). Hawarden was ENS' client.  The court said that ENS owed a general duty of care [...]

Buchler v Minister of SAPS | Search and seizure warrants

In Buchler v Minister of SAPS, Buchler succeeded in having two search and seizure warrants set aside. SAPS and the Hawks seized materials from Buchler's place of business, an internet café. The police believed that Buchler was using the materials [...]

By |2023-04-03T15:19:39+02:00January 5th, 2023|Categories: Cybercrime|Tags: , , , |

Firstrand Bank v Briedenhann | Virtual commissioning

In Firstrand Bank v Briedenhann, the court held that (as a rule) the law does not allow virtual commissioning - a commissioner of oaths should only commission an affidavit by a deponent if the deponent, the document and their signature [...]