CaseLines FAQ’s

Go to the OCJ digital case portal 

Click Register

Once you’ve completed all the questions scroll down and select (tag) the boxes for “I have read and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions above” and “I consent to you providing me with business and marketing information.”

Click Register

Go to the OCJ digital case portal

Click Log on

Enter your username and password (i.e. the details that you’ve used to register on the portal) on the logon screen.

Click in the box before “Remember me next time” to select (tag) the box

Click Log On

Once you’ve logged on to the portal, the software opens on your case list screen.  To see the full-screen content, use the arrows on your screen’s right-hand side to scroll up or down.

Please note:

• The software do not sort the cases in any specific order
• You can filter the cases by either
  • Limiting the number of cases displayed on a page
  • By hearing date, or by
  • Text information: this can be a portion of the case name or the case number (discard the year).

If you need to see your case list from another page on the OCJ case portal

Click on View Case List to go to the case list page.

TROUBLESHOOT

If you do not see any cases on your case list screen, you must either

• Create the Case (for new cases)
• Ask your opponent your correspondent to invite you to the Case (for existing cases)
• Contact support for assistance

Click on View Case List

click on Create Case

Click on the dropdown arrow  next to Use Template to select the correct court and category template

Under Case Name type the case name and prefix using the following format:

Classification Prefix: Plaintiff Surname, Plaintiff First Names vs Defendant Surname, Defendant First Names + number of others

See: Directive 7.2 of the Amended Gauteng Consolidated Directive dated 18 September 2020

Directive 7.1 of the Amended Gauteng Consolidated Directive dated 18 September 2020

Prefix = case type

Classification = Paragraph 4.1.2 Practice Directive 1 0f 2021

When the Case type/prefix changes, the applicant’s attorney must change the prefix accordingly

See: Directive 7.2 of the Amended Gauteng Consolidated Directive dated 18 September 2020

Prefix = case type

Classification = Paragraph 4.1.2 Practice Directive 1 0f 2021

When the Case type/prefix changes, the applicant’s attorney must change the prefix accordingly

See: Directive 7.2 of the Amended Gauteng Consolidated Directive dated 18 September 2020

Under case reference, type the case number using the following format:

yyyy/number without a leading zero i,e 2021/21 or 2019/15389

See:       Directive 7.1 of the Amended Gauteng Consolidated Directive dated 18 September 2020

Click Get from Template

Click Create

Go to View Case List

Go to the relevant case

Next to the case name, click Update Case

Select the People tab

Click Invite New Participant

Next to person’s email type the email address of the person you want to invite to the case

Select the role from the dropdown list

Scroll down to ensure all the relevant permissions / authorities are selected

Click Invite

Go to View Case List

Scroll down to the relevant case

Click Update Case

Click Sections

Click Create New Section

Type the prescribed section number

Type the prescribed section name

Type the prescribed section level

Click Create

The easiest and most cost-effective way to upload files /emails to CaseLines (Case Centre) is to use           MSOutlook add-in for CaseLInes (Case Centre)

Watch the YouTube upload email on the automated upload process

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMIpDfF98L0&t=18s

Alternatively, you can follow the manual upload process.  The manual process is slower and more labour intensive.  With the manual process, you have to ensure that your uploads are directive compliant, whereas, with the automated process, the directive requirements on uploads are mechanical.

Select the Sections tab of the case

Go to the relevant section to which the document you intend to upload belongs (consider the purpose of the section and the rules on relevance)

On the Sections screen next to the relevant section, click on Upload Document(s)

Drag and drop the file(s) you wish to upload in the space provided

Click Start Upload

Select the Sections tab to view all the documents of the section.

Click View next to the document name to view a single document.

Select the Sections tab

Click Update all documents next to the relevant section

to

• change the sequence/document order
• change the document description and add the document upload date
• change the document date
• in/exclude the document from view on the Review screen
• View a copy of the document
• Move the document to another section
• Download a pdf copy of the document
• Remove the document

See paragraph 4.3 of the CaseLines (Case Centre) Upload directive

Go to Sections tab

Next to the relevant Section, click Update all documents

Next to the document that must be moved, click Move

Select the new destination section from the dropdown list

Click Move

CaseLines by default inserts the date of upload as the document date

Go to the Sections tab

click Update all documents next to the relevant section

type the new document date in the document column next to the document description

Wait for CaseLines to process the update

Go to the Sections tab

Click Update all documents next to the relevant section

Unselect Included to exclude the document from view

You can do this from the  Update Case  or the Review pane

From Update Case

Go to the Sections tab

Click Update all documents next to the relevant section

Click pdf next to the document you want to download

From the Review pane

Select the document using the auto-index situated to the absolute left of the Review pane

Click Pdf download document

Go to the Sections tab

Click Update all documents

Type the new document number under Document Number

Wait for the software to process the change

You can download a pdf copy of the index and bundle from the Update case pane or from the Review pane.

From the Update case pane

Go to the Bundles tab

Click Refresh all bundles

Click Download

Click Download complete bundle to download the entire case file

Click Download bundle index to download a pdf copy of the index

The pdf copy of the bundle will include a copy of the index and will display the content of the index on the right-hand side of the screen:  bookmarked and hyperlinked to the individual documents.

The judge or your counsel must have permission to view all the documents to see the documents on the CaseLines review pane.

Click Review to view the documents and Hearing-specific bundles.

From the View Case List pane

Click Review Evidence

From the Review pane

Click Present

Click Start Presentation

Click Stop Presentation when you are done

From the Review pane

Click Present

Click Follow presenter

Go to Review

Click Add a case note

Type the note in the space provided

Select private (for a note that only you will see), share group (for a note that all the people in your share group will see) and widely shared note (for a note that all the people that has access to the case will see.

Click Save

Go to Sections

Click View Documents next to the relevant section description

Click View next to the relevant document that must contain the hyperlinking

Click Hyperlink

Use the page counter to navigate to the relevant page of the document

Click next to the place in the document where the hyperlink must appear

Click OK to the question add a hyperlink to this page

Verify Document page is tagged

Add a hyperlink Description that corresponds with the description in the document.  (For example, Annexure A Certified copy of the marriage certificate)

Under section Please Choose, select the section and relevant document (For example, under section Evidence Affidavits  select document Annexure A Certified copy of the marriage certificate)

Click Save

Go to Bundles

Click Settings

Scroll down to hyperlink format

Select Hyperlink display format Full

Select Hyperlink page number format Section, Tab, and Page

Click Save & Refresh Bundle

Go to Bundles

Verify the timing is recent to update all changes; otherwise, click Refresh All Bundles again

Go to the Review pane

Click Change[1]

Click the dropdown list

Select the Hearing-specific bundle

Activate the dual-panes button  [2] .

Activating the dual-pane button will divide the screen into four panes.

Always click on a hyperlink on the document situated on the middle left pane; otherwise, the reader will lose its place on the original document, and the screen will jump to the referenced document location.)

The referenced document will appear on the middle right pane (the index will also highlight the reference document’s location but under a different color).

Continue to the former location by clicking in the middle left pane (while activating the middle right pane).

[1] Sitiated at the top left of the Review pane, between the case name and the index..

[2] Situated in the top middle of the screen

Go to Sections

Next to the relevant Section, click Update all documents

Change the document number to the number of the document immediately above the destination position

Next to the document date, select Inserted

The document’s page number will then display as, for example, A4a.

If a Litigant selects Tabbed in the checkbox above, CaseLines (Case Centre) will insert a blank page before the document marked as tabbed.  This is useful when printing a copy of the bundle.

Go to Bundles

Click Create New Bundle

Under Index, type a bundle number using the format 02, 03, 04 etc.

Under name, type the hearing date followed by the nature of the hearing using the format yyyy/mm/dd/nature of hearing

Click Save

Click Sections to add/remove sections and documents from Bundle 01 Master bundle to the Hearing-Specific bundle

A list of all the sections under Bundle 01 Master bundle will display.

Click Add to include a section in the Hearing-specific bundle

Click Allow document upload and delete

Click Include documents by default

Click Document

Click Edit next to the document description

Click Excluded to exclude the documents that are not relevant to the specific hearing

Click Update to change the bundle number or description

Click Refresh to repaginate the bundle

Click Download to download the bundle

Click Settings to change the paginations settings of the bundle

Go to Bundles

Click Save & Refresh Bundle

Go to Bundles

Verify the timing is recent to update all changes; otherwise, click Refresh All Bundles again

A section will not display on the Review page if

• there are no documents uploaded to it;
• the Litigant excluded the document from view; or
• the Litigant did not mark the documents for inclusion in the Hearing-specific bundle.

Go to Review

Click Change[1]

Select the Hearing-specific bundle from the dropdown list

[1] Situated at the top left of the Review pane, between the case name and the index.

Under Case Update

Go to the Audit tab

The Record of User Activity records whenever someone is invited, removed or has their access to a case changed.

The Record of Document Activity records when a document is added, removed or has its properties updated.

This often happens when the case category changes after the allocation of a hearing date.  You will also encounter this problem when first a trial date was allocated and then an interlocutory hearing date.

To ensure the tasks matches the hearing date category

Open the case hearing date on your calendar

Click Category override on the outlook ribbon.

Select the relevant category that matches the hearing category.

Click Apply.