It's been a big year for South African courts and the judiciary. Admittedly, it would have been an even bigger year had the NPA not decided to let Jacob Zuma off the hook and had the JSC not brushed charges against Cape Judge President John Hlophe under the carpet.

Nevertheless, we did get four new Constitutional Court judges and a new Chief Justice, and a High Court judge found out what it was like to be on the other side of the judicial gavel. On top of this, there were the usual heinous killers, sex abuse scandals and the much-awaited trial of South Africa's former police commissioner.

We take a look back at some of the top trials of 2009.

The Sword Killer

Accused: Morne Harmse

Charges: Hacking 16-year-old Jacques Pretorius to death and injuring three people with his sword at Nic Diederichs Technical High School in Krugersdorb on 18 August 2008. The three injured were schoolboy Stephanus Bouwer and school employees Lesiba Samuel Manamela and Tsiamo Joseph Kodisang.

Pleaded: Guilty

Judge: Phillip Hattingh

Court:Johannesburg High Court

Verdict: Guilty of the murder of Jacques Pretorius.

Sentence: Harmse was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment ? 18 years for the murder of Jacques Pretorius and eight years in connection with the slashing of Stephanus Bouwer (six years to run concurrently). Harmse was given a further 10 years (to run concurrently) for the attacks on Manamela and Kodisang.

The Drunk Judge

Accused: Pretoria High Court Judge Nkola Motata

Charges: Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, with an alternate charge of reckless or negligent driving. He also faced charges of defeating the ends of justice with an alternate charge of resisting arrest. Motata crashed his Jaguar into the wall of a Hurlingham property in January 2007, whilst allegedly drunk.

Pleaded: Not guilty

Magistrate: Desmond Nair

Court: Johannesburg Magistrate's Court

Verdict: Motata was found guilty of drunken driving. He was not convicted of resisting arrest or defeating the ends of justice.

Sentence: A R20 000 fine or a one-year prison term. Motata's driver's licence was not suspended because Magistrate Nair agreed that he needed it to do his job.

The Killer Cop

Accused: Marius van der Westhuizen

Charges: The former commander of the Claremont Police Station charge office was accused of killing his three children ? 21-month-old Antoinette, Marius (5), and wheelchair-bound Bianca (16), in July 2006 while they were sleeping.

Pleaded: Van der Westhuizen initially pleaded guilty to the charges, but the State rejected his plea. He changed his plea to not guilty, claiming that he suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of his job and depression as a result of his troubled marriage.

Judge: Willem Louw

Court: Cape High Court

Verdict: Van der Westhuizen was found guilty of the murder of his three children. In delivering the verdict, Judge Louw said: "Three young and innocent children were killed who had nothing to do with the troubles the couple had experienced in their marriage."

Sentence: He was sentenced to 24 years in total for the murder of his three children. Judge Louw granted him leave to appeal his conviction and sentence.

Read about the final three trials on page two...