Procedures
High Court Rules with judicial case management and prescription at 3 years
The High Court Rules impose active judicial case management, introduced to control delay. Substantive claims are Roman-Dutch, so extinctive prescription runs under the Prescription Act 68 of 1969 — three years for most debts. Appeals lie to the Supreme Court.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Magistrates' courts, the High Court and the Supreme Court, with community courts applying customary law.
- Deadline — Most debts prescribe after 3 years
- Deadline — Appeal to the Supreme Court: notice within 21 days of judgment
Governing law
- Rules of the High Court of Namibia2014
- Prescription Act 68 of 1969
- Community Courts Act 10 of 2003
In practice
Namibia's 2014 rules were a deliberate break with the older South African practice of party-driven litigation, giving the managing judge control of the timetable; non-compliance now carries real sanction, which changed local litigation culture.