The meaning and purpose of Rule 48(1) of the Uniform Rules of Court

In Fourie v The Taxing Master and Another 1983 (4) SA 210 (O), the court gave an accurate interpretation of the meaning and scope of Rule 48(1) of the Uniform Rules of Court. Rule 48(1) requires the taxing master to state a case for the decision of a Judge, which case sets out each item or part of an item with the grounds of the objection advanced at the taxation and any relevant finding of facts by the taxing master. The purpose of Rule 48(1) of the URC is to give the Judge reviewing the taxation a brief record of the taxation proceedings in which the issues between the parties are clearly defined and the findings of fact by the taxing master are set out. Further, the stated case provides the basis for contentions of the parties, as well as the report of the taxing master. In the present case, the court noted that the practice of the taxing master in the Orange Free State Provincial Division to only provide the ground on which a particular item in the bill of costs was disallowed, without stating the grounds of the objection advanced, is not in compliance with Rule 48(1) of the URC.