Following Parliament's adoption of the Constitution Seventeenth Amendment Bill on 20 November 2012, the Supreme Court of Appeal's jurisdiction to hear appeals from the Competition Appeal Court (CAC) has been restricted in respect of certain matters.

Section 168 of the Constitution has been amended to provide that the SCA:

"may decide appeals in any matter arising from the High Court of South Africa or a court of a similar status to the High Court of South Africa, except where an Act of Parliament provides otherwise".

The Competition Act sets out a number of matters over which the Competition Tribunal and Competition Appeal Court share exclusive jurisdiction, including the interpretation and application of Chapter 2 (Prohibited Practices), Chapter 3 (Merger Control) and Chapter 5 (Investigation and Adjudication Proceedings) of the Act, and certain of the functions of the Commission, Competition Tribunal and CAC.

The effect of the constitutional amendment is that the CAC will now be the final court of appeal in respect of these matters. The amendment does not affect the right to appeal any constitutional matter arising in terms of the Competition Act to the Constitutional Court.

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