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On the commencement of the Batavian Republic’s administration of the Cape in 1803 the office of Fiscal was abolished and an Attorney-General, G Beelaerts van Blokland, appointed. After the second British occupation of the Cape in 1806 the office of Fiscal was re-introduced. In 1928 the Charter of Justice resulted in a revamping of the whole judicial system and the establishment of the permanent post of Attorney-General.

The Attorney-General was the state’s public prosecutor in all criminal cases. Subordinate to the Department of the Colonial Secretary, he acted as the lawyer of the state and legal adviser to the various government departments and offices.

As the work of the Attorney-General increased, he was granted greater independence in the execution of his duties. In 1873 the clerks of the various courts in the Colony, the Master of the Supreme Court, the Registrar of Deeds and all magistrates were permitted to correspond directly with the Attorney-General in connection with judicial matters. Only in cases concerning the obtaining of legal advice, certain departments were still required to approach the Attorney-General through the offices of the Colonial Secretary.

In 1878 the ministerial division of the Law Department, under the Attorney-General as ministerial head, was created. The departments of the Attorney-General of the Eastern Province, the Supreme Court, the Eastern Province Supreme Court, the Circuit Courts and the Registrar fell within the ministerial division. Later the offices of the Registrar of Deeds (1887), prisons (1889), convict stations and the Porter Reformatory (which was re-allocated to the ministerial control of the Colonial Secretary in 1894), district courts and police, excluding the police of Cape Town’s district no 1 (1894), police of Cape Town’s district no 1 (1896) and the administration of mines (1907) were placed under the Attorney-General’s ministerial control.

While retaining his judicial functions and powers the Attorney-General’s duties increased in time and his powers were extended accordingly: in 1894 he was empowered to sign the appointments of field-cornets and in 1900 to confer with the judges of the appeal court in connection with regulations in terms of the Water Act of 1899. He was also responsible for the proper administration of the offices and institutions which were placed under his control from time to time.

At Union in 1910 the department as such was abolished and placed under the control of the Union’s Department of Justice. From an initial staff of two members with administrative expenses of ₤1650 in 1828 the department of the Attorney-General had grown to one of the largest of the Cape Colony in 1910 with a staff of over six hundred with expenses of ₤635 980 for the financial year 1908 – 1909.

The archives of the Attorney-General comprises three sections:
A. The archives of the Fiscal
B. The archives of the Attorney-General
C. The archives of diverse bodies, eg military courts, Treason Commission and Martial Law Council.

In 1854 a committee which was elected from the members of the Cape House of Assemble to investigate the necessity of increasing the number of magistracies in the Colony, recommended inter alia the founding of a magistracy at Aliwal North, a village which at that time fell under the jurisdiction of the resident magistrate of Albert.

On 27 July 1855 the Cape of Good Hope Government Gazette reported that the magistracy in question had been constituted and established.

The boundaries of the new district were as follows: “From that point where the Stormberg Spruit joins the Orange River, along the said Spruit to the Brandkops Spruit, thence along the latter to the farm of B de Klerk thence in a South-Easterly direction past the farms Braamfontein, P H Hemmings; Damfontein, G Heuse; Tiger Hoek, G Strydoms; Patriotsklip, J Kleinhans; Zuutbron, J Olivier; Telemachus, J van Biljoens; Vogelfontein, L van der Waltz; Witkops, Jasper Venters; Du Plessiskraal, P Wagenaars; the farms of C Botha, N Els, B Buys, and L J Pretorius, to Joubertskop, in the Stormbergen the boundary of Albert; thence along the Colonial Boundary to the source of the Fees, and down that stream to the Orange River, the Boundary between Albert and the Free State. The whole of the places above named belonged to Aliwal North”.

Several factors influenced the jurisdiction of the Resident Magistrate and Civil Commissioner, later the Magistrate of Aliwal North. The most important of these are the following:

(1) Special Justice of the Peace and Periodical Court, Jamestown
The year 1876 marked the establishment of a court of Special Justice of the Peace at Jamestown in the district of Aliwal North. Henceforth certain types of criminal cases were to be dealt with by the newly appointed Special Justice of the Peace which meant, in effect, a diminution of the criminal jurisdiction of the Resident Magistrate of Aliwal North. Proclamation no. 3 of 11 January 1883 announced the establishment of an additional court to that of the Special Justice of the Peace, namely a Periodical Court to be held by the Resident Magistrate of Aliwal North at Jamestown. The two courts which operated at Jamestown were abolished on the upgrading of the post of Special Justice of the Peace to that of an Assistant Magistrate as from 1 September 1952.

(2) Periodical Court, Lady Grey
From 18 October 1877 to 20 May 1886 a Periodical Court was held by the Resident Magistrate of Aliwal North at Lady Grey. From 1917 to 1927 Lady Grey was a sub-district of Aliwal North. The sub-district was abolished on 27 May 1927 and the district of Lady Grey created.

(3) Magisterial Division, Herschel
The Herschel Magisterial Division came into being as from 1 April 1873 in the Wittebergen Native Reserve. The Wittebergen Native Reserve was founded in 1850 and originally fell under the jurisdiction of the Resident Magistrate of Albert. With the establishment of the magistracy at Aliwal North the supervision over the Reserve went over to the newly created magistracy, a situation which was completely altered with the creation of the Herschel Magisterial Division.

Functions of the Resident Magistrate and Civil Commissioner:
The Magistrate of Aliwal North followed the magisterial system of the Cape Colony which had been laid down in Act no. 20 of 1856. He possessed criminal and civil jurisdiction and performed miscellaneous quasi- and non-judicial functions. The magisterial jurisdiction was amended by various subsequent statutes, both of the Cape Colony and of Union.

The Municipality of the Strand was constituted on 15 June 1896 in terms of Proclamation No 202, 1896 under provision of the Municipal Act, 1882 (Cape of Good Hope Government Gazette No 7824, 16 June 1896).

In terms of Proclamation No 27 of 28 May 1996 the Helderberg Substructure was established on 29 May 1996 with the amalgamation of the municipalities of Strand, Somerset West and Gordon’s Bay, as well as the Lwandle Town Council, Macassar Management Committee and Sir Lowry’s Pass Management Committee (Province of the Western Cape Provincial Gazette Extraordinary, No 5051, 28 May 1996). The substructure formed part of the Cape Metropolitan Council.

On 4 December 2000 the Cape Metropolitan Council and the substructures were abolished and the new City of Cape Town was created (Province of the Western Cape Provincial Gazette, No 5588, Proclamation 479 of 2000).

The Standing Rules and Orders of the Divisional Council of Barkly West, framed in terms of Act No 4 of 1865 were published under Government Notice No 363 dated 30 March 1882.

On 1 January 1980 the Divisional Council of Barkly West was re-constituted together with the Divisional Councils Kimberley and Herbert to form the amalgamated Divisional Council of Vaalrivier (The Province of the Cape of Good Hope Official Gazette No 4061 dated 20 July 1979, Proclamation No 174 of 18 July 1979).

On 1 January 1980 the Divisional Councils of Malmesbury and Piquetberg were reconstituted together to form the amalgamated Divisional Council of Swartland (The Province of the Cape of Good Hope Official Gazette No 4061 of 20 July 1979, Proclamation No 174 of 18 July 1979).

On 31 March 1989 the Divisional Council Areas of Swartland and Cederberg were established as the West Coast Regional Services Council (The Province of the Cape of Good Hope Official Gazette No 4580 of 31 March 1989, Provincial Notice No 335 of 31 March 1989)

The Board of Public Roads for the Division of Stellenbosch was established together with and complementary to the Central Board of Commissioners for Public Roads on 22 November 1843 in terms of Ordinance No 8 of 1843. The function of the board was to maintain and improve branch roads in the said division. The board ceased to exist on the formation of the Stellenbosch Divisional Council in July 1855.

The Divisional Council of Stellenbosch was established on 12 July 1855 in terms of Act No 5 of 1855.

On 1 July 1987 the Divisional Council areas of Stellenbosch, Cape and Paarl were established as the Western Cape Regional Services Council in terms of the Regional Services Councils Act of 1985 (The Province of the Cape of Good Hope Official Gazette, No 4460 of 9 January 1987, Provincial Notice No 4 of 9 January 1987).

On 25 September 1905 the division of Montagu was subdivided into six districts for Divisional Council purposes under provision of Act No 31 of 1899 (Cape of Good Hope Government Gazette No 8795a dated 13 October 1905, Proclamation No 360 dated 25 September 1905).

On 1 January 1980 the Divisional Council of Montagu was reconstituted together with the Divisional Council of Robertson to form the amalgamated Divisional Council of Wynland (The Province of the Cape of Good Hope Official Gazette No 4061 dated 20 July 1979, Proclamation No 174 dated 18 July 1979).

On 1 January 1980 the Divisional Councils of Robertson and Montagu were reconstituted together to form the amalgamated Divisional Council of Wynland (The Province of the Cape of Good Hope Official Gazette No 4061 of 20 July 1979, Proclamation No 174 of 18 July 1979).

On 31 March 1989 the Divisional Council Area of Wynland and portions of the Divisional Council Areas of Witzenberg and Matroosberg were established as the Breërivier Regional Services Council (The Province of the Cape of Good Hope Official Gazette No 4580 of 31 March 1989, Provincial Notice No 331 of 31 March 1989).

The Divisional Council of Prieska was constituted on 30 June 1887 in terms of Proclamation No 113 (Cape of Good Hope Government Gazette No 6875, 1 July 1887). The first meeting of the Council was held on 23 August 1888 (see volume 4/PKA 1/1/1/1, p 2).

On 1 January 1980 the Divisional Council of Prieska was reconstituted together with the Divisional Councils of Britstown and Hopetown to form the amalgamated Divisional Council of Prieska (The Province of the Cape of Good Hope Official Gazette No 4061 dated 20 July 1979, Proclamation No 174 dated 18July 1979).

The Municipality of Oudtshoorn was constituted on 26 August 1863 under provision of Proclamation No 29 of 1863 in terms of Ordinance No 9 of 1836 (Cape of Good Hope Government Gazette, No 3497, 1 September 1863).

In terms of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, 1998 (Act 117 of 1998) the existing Oudtshoorn Municipality as well as the De Rust/Blomnek Transitional Local Council, Bo-Langkloof Transitional Representative Council, Dysselsdorp Transitional Council and Oudtshoorn Transitional Representative Council was disestablished and the Oudtshoorn Local Municipality established (Province of Western Cape Provincial Gazette Extraordinary No 5592, 22 September 2000, Provincial Notice No 502, 22 September 2000). The Oudtshoorn Local Municipality forms part of the larger Garden Route District Municipality (previously known as the Eden District Municipality).