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Judge condemns attorneys and Road Accident Fund for not protecting child claimants
Judge Denise Fisher in the Gauteng High Court says she shudders to think what has occurred in thousands of cases
By Tania Broughton
21 Apr 2021 13:24
Image: Moneyweb
A judge has uncovered maladministration, and possibly also fraud and corruption, in Road Accident Fund (RAF) payments involving child beneficiaries.
Attorneys are not protecting the interests of children who are due settlements.
The judge has reported an attorney and a court appointed âcuratorâ to the Legal Practice Council.
Judge Denise Fisher in the Gauteng High Court has criticised the Road Accident Fund and some attorneys for acting unlawfully when concluding settlement in matters involving children, with no proper scrutiny of their circumstances or of who actually looks after them, and who will protect their financial interests.
Court orders investigation into lawyers embroiled in RAF payment debacle
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THREE lawyers who apparently played along with the Road Accident Fund’s (RAF) cost-cutting, yet unlawful strategy of settling litigation and finalising payments outside of court, have landed in hot water.
In a scathing judgment in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, Judge Denise Fisher has ordered that the Legal Practice Council (LPC) should investigate the conduct of attorney Sonya Meistre, as well as advocates Jonatan Bouwer and Leizle Swart.
Furthermore, Judge Fisher ruled that the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) should be supplied with a copy of her judgment.
Pro-independence supporters celebrate the results of an independence referendum vote in Nouméa, New Caledonia, in October. In a vote that marked a milestone in a three-decade decolonization effort, 46.7% supported independence. Now the Pacific island territory has a government made up mostly of pro-independence politicians and the congress is expected to select a new president this month. Mathurin Derel/AP
toggle caption Mathurin Derel/AP
Pro-independence supporters celebrate the results of an independence referendum vote in Nouméa, New Caledonia, in October. In a vote that marked a milestone in a three-decade decolonization effort, 46.7% supported independence. Now the Pacific island territory has a government made up mostly of pro-independence politicians and the congress is expected to select a new president this month.