Candidate Bio
Jacobs holds a Diploma Juris, BProc and an LLB from the University of the Western Cape. She has an LLM from Unisa and an MBA from Mancosa. A regional magistrate since 2007, and a magistrate for four years before that, she also worked as a legal advisor to the apartheid-era tricameral House of Representatives.
Interview Synopsis
Jacobs has appeared before the Judicial Service Commission on two previous occasions: 2012 and 2014.
At the time of her first interview she had not spent any time acting at the high court and told the commission that she did not see any difference between adjudicating in the regional magistrates court and the high court.
Asked to revisit her opinion after having put in time acting at the high courts in the Eastern Cape and the Free State, Jacobs said that she had “erred in my submissions on that day… there is a vast difference.”
She said that the “technical proficiency required, the organisational skills required and the commitment levels required” were the main differences.
She said that she had gained valuable knowledge from attending a week-long aspirant judges course and being assigned a mentor while acting at the high courts. She said the mentor, a senior judge assisted in conceptualising her legal reasoning and writing judgments.
