An automatic review – where you don’t ask for the review – takes place in the following circumstances:

• In a criminal case, a judge will review your case automatically if you do not have an attorney and the sentence is more than 6 months in prison, or the fine more than R10 000. That means the judge will decide if the magistrate made the right judgment according to the law.
• If you do not have an attorney in a criminal case, and your sentence is more than 3 months in prison or a fine of more than R5 000, AND you are sentenced by a magistrate who has worked for less than seven years as a magistrate, then your case will also automatically be reviewed by a judge.