Court Date Calculator works out litigation deadlines in court days for South African practice. It exists because counting court days on a desk calendar is tedious, and because the two things that make it error-prone — public holidays that move, and a holiday observance rule that only runs one way — are exactly the things a calendar will not remind you about.
Attorneys, candidate attorneys, advocates and paralegals working in South African civil litigation. It assumes you know what a notice of intention to defend is and simply want the date. Everything on the site is free to use, and the calculators need no account.
Public holidays follow the Public Holidays Act 36 of 1994, including the section 2(1) rule that moves a holiday falling on a Sunday to the following Monday. Easter is computed, so Good Friday and Family Day are right in every year. Once-off proclaimed holidays are fetched from a public holiday API and merged over the statutory calendar, so an election day declared after this site was built is still taken into account.
Rule periods are taken from the consolidated Uniform Rules of Court, with each period carrying its rule reference. Where a period is disputed, unverified or subject to a divisional directive, the site says so rather than presenting a number as settled.
It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for reading the Rules. Litigation is fact-specific; the Rules are amended regularly; divisions issue their own directives. The calculations here are arithmetic applied to a period you have chosen, and choosing the right period remains the practitioner's job. Every page says so, and it is meant seriously.
By advertising. The calculators are free and there is no paid tier for them. Advertising is served by Google AdSense; nothing you type into a calculator is transmitted to this site or to an advertiser, because the arithmetic happens in your browser. The privacy policy sets out the detail.
If a period is wrong, a holiday is missing, or a rule has been amended since this was written, please say so — corrections are the most useful thing anyone sends. Email hello@courtdatecalculator.co.za or use the contact page.
The site is built and maintained independently by a South African litigation practitioner. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the Office of the Chief Justice, any Division of the High Court, the Legal Practice Council, or any law firm, and no relationship of attorney and client arises from using it.