| (1) | There shall be a court of law to be known as the Land Claims Court which shall have the power, to the exclusion of any court contemplated in section 166(c), (d) or (e) of the Constitution— |
| (a) | to determine a right to restitution of any right in land in accordance with this Act; |
| (b) | to determine or approve compensation payable in respect of land owned by or in the possession of a private person upon expropriation or acquisition of such land in terms of this Act; |
| (c) | to determine the person entitled to title to land contemplated in section 3; |
| (cA) | at the instance of any interested person and in its discretion, to grant a declaratory order on a question of law relating to section 25(7) of the Constitution or to this Act or to any other law or matter in respect of which the Court has jurisdiction, notwithstanding that such person might not be able to claim any relief consequential upon the granting of such order; |
[Section 22(1)(cA) inserted by section 10(a) of Act No. 78 of 1996]
| (cB) | to determine whether compensation or any other consideration received by any person at the time of any dispossession of a right in land was just and equitable; |
| (cC) | to determine any matter involving the interpretation or application of this Act or the Land Reform (Labour Tenants) Act. 1996 (Act No. 3 of 1996), with the exception of matters relating to the definition of "occupier" in section 1(1) of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act, 1997 (Act No. 62 of 1997); |
[Section 22(1)(cC) substituted by section 4 of Act No. 11 of 2000]
| (cD) | to decide any constitutional matter in relation to this Act or the Land Reform (Labour Tenants) Act, 1996 (Act No. 3 of 1996); |
| (cE) | to determine any matter involving the validity, enforceability, interpretation or implementation of an agreement contemplated in section 14(3), unless the agreement provides otherwise; |
[Section 22(1)(cE) inserted by section 7(a) of Act No. 18 of 1999]
| (d) | to determine all other matters which require to be determined in terms of this Act. |
[Section 22(1) substituted by section 13(a) of Act No. 63 of 1997]
| (2) | Subject to Chapter 8 of the Constitution, the Court shall have jurisdiction throughout the Republic and shall have— |
| (a) | all such powers in relation to matters falling within its jurisdiction as are possessed by a High Court having jurisdiction in civil proceedings at the place where the land in question is situated, including the powers of a High Court in relation to any contempt of the Court; |
| (b) | all the ancillary powers necessary or reasonably incidental to the performance of its functions, including the power to grant interlocutory orders and interdicts. |
| (c) | the power to decide any issue either in terms of this Act or in term of any other law, which is not ordinarily within its jurisdiction but is incidental to an issue within its jurisdiction, if the Court considers it to be in the interests of justice to do so. |
[Section 22(2) substituted by section 13(a) of Act No. 63 of 1997]
| (3) | The Court shall consist of a Judge President and so many judges as may be determined by the President. |
[Section 22(3) substituted by section 6(a) of Act No. 15 of 2014]
| (4) | The Judge President and judges of the Court, each of whom must be a judge of the High Court of South Africa, are appointed by the President acting on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission. |
[Section 22(4) substituted by section 6(a) of Act No. 15 of 2014]
| (5) | When the office of the Judge President of the Court is vacant, or when the Judge President of the Court is temporarily unable to perform the functions of that office for any reason, the longest serving judge of the Court must perform the functions of Judge President of the Court. |
[Section 22(5) substituted by section 6(a) of Act No. 15 of 2014]
| (6) | The Judge President and any other judge of the Court is appointed for a fixed term determined by the President at the time of appointment and holds office until— |
| (a) | the expiry of the term; |
| (b) | the date the judge ceases to be a judge of the High Court; or |
| (c) | the judge resigns from the Court by giving written notice to the President, whichever occurs first. |
[Section 22(6) substituted by section 6(a) of Act No. 15 of 2014]
| (7) | The tenure of office, the remuneration and the terms and conditions of service applicable to a judge of the High Court in terms of the Judges' Remuneration and Conditions of Employment Act, 2001 (Act No. 47 of 2001), are not affected by the appointment and concurrent tenure of office of that judge who is appointed as a judge of the Court. |
[Section 22(7) substituted by section 6(a) of Act No. 15 of 2014]
| (8) | In case of a vacancy in the office of the Judge President or judge of the Court or if there is sufficient reason the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development may, after consultation with the Judge President of the Court, and in accordance with section 175(2) of the Constitution, appoint an acting judge of the Court for such term as that Minister shall determine. |
[Section 22(8) substituted by section 10(c) of Act No. 78 of 1996]
(9)
| (a) | Proceedings in which a judge of the Court has participated and which have not been disposed of at the termination of his or her term of service or, having been disposed of before or after such termination, are reopened, shall be disposed of by that judge. |
| (b) | For the purposes of paragraph (a) any appointment made under this section shall be deemed also to have been made for the time in which the proceedings referred to in paragraph (a) are being disposed of. |
[Section 22(9) inserted by section 1 of Act No. 84 of 1995]
