ELECTORAL ACT ____________________________________________________________________________________ PART XXII ESTABLISHMENT, COMPOSITION AND RULES OF ELECTORAL COURT 161 Establishment and jurisdiction of Electoral Court (1) There is hereby established a division of the High Court, to be known as the Electoral Court, which shall be a court of record. [Subsection amended by s. 30 of Act No. 6 of 2018] (2) The Electoral Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction— (a) to hear appeals, applications and petitions in terms of this Act; and (b) to review any decision of the Commission or any other person made or purporting to have been made under this Act; and shall have power to give such judgments, orders and directions in those matters as might be given by the High Court: Provided that the Electoral Court shall have no jurisdiction to try any criminal case. (3) Judgments, orders and directions of the Electoral Court shall be enforceable in the same way as judgments, orders and directions of the High Court. [Section substituted by s. 35 of Act No. 3 of 2012] 162 Judges of Electoral Court and composition thereof (1) The Chief Justice shall, after consultation with the Judicial Service Commission and the Judge President of the High Court, appoint at least two judges of the High Court to be Judges of the Electoral Court for such a period as he or she may specify in such appointment. [Subsection as amended by s. 77 of Act No. 17 of 2007 and by s. 36 of Act No. 3 of 2012] (2) The Electoral Court’s jurisdiction may be exercised by a Judge of the Electoral Court sitting alone or with one or more assessors appointed in terms of section one hundred and sixtythree. 163 Assessors (1) Subject to this section, a Judge of the Electoral Court may require the Registrar of the Electoral Court to appoint two persons (one of whom must be a woman) from the appropriate list of persons referred to in subsection (2) to assist him or her as assessors in determining any matter that is required to be determined in any case before the Electoral Court. [Subsection amended by s. 31 of Act No. 6 of 2018] (2) The Chief Justice and the Judge President shall prepare a list of the names of at least ten persons (at least half of them women) who have knowledge or experience to act as assessors and who are otherwise suitable for appointment as such. [Subsection amended by s. 31 of Act No. 6 of 2018] (3) The Registrar of the Electoral Court shall, when so directed by a judge of the Electoral Court, choose as assessors at the trial of an election petition two persons whose names appear on a list prepared in terms of subsection (2). (4) Before an assessor enters upon his duties for the first time, he or she shall take an oath before the Judge of the Electoral Court that he or she will faithfully perform his or her duties as a member of the Electoral Court. (5) An assessor appointed in terms of subsection (1) shall act in an advisory capacity only and shall not be entitled to a vote in the decision of the Electoral Court. (6) An assessor shall be paid such remuneration and allowances as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister responsible for finance, may fix. 164 Registrar of Electoral Court (1) The Registrar of the High Court shall be the Registrar of the Electoral Court. 130