Certain statutes make provision for the decisions of magistrates or other judicial officers to be reviewed "automatically" by judges, meaning that the review is not initiated by an aggrieved individual but takes place by virtue of a statutory trigger. Probably the best-known example is section 302 of the Criminal Procedure Act,Act 51 of 1977. which provides for the automatic review by judges of certain sentences imposed by magistrates. Another example is section 19(3) of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act,Act 62 of 1997. which provides for the automatic review of orders of eviction granted in the magistrates’ courts.
