Magistrates Commission criteria
Questions asked by the Magistrates Commission during the interviews and the criteria applied Filling the vacancies – October 2019 interviews It is undisputed that there exists a huge number of vacant positions within the Magistracy. There are currently 26 vacant positions of regional court magistrates. The vacant positions vary between Soweto, Brits, Tlhabane, Moretele, Rustenburg, […]
Judges Matter results April – October 2019
About Judges Matter Judges Matter is a loose coalition of civil society organisations who believe in the importance of judges. Judges Matter focuses on the appointments process for judges in South Africa. Judges Matter’s aim is to track and illustrate the appointment process by attending the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) interviews of judicial candidates and […]
Most read articles of 2019
Throughout the year we write articles to share information about the JSC, the judges’ interview process and the South African judicial system as a whole. Here is a list of Judges Matter’s most popular articles in 2019. Five ConCourt candidates recommended to the President Six candidates were interviewed for the Constitutional Court on Wednesday 3 […]
The top 10 JSC interviews of 2019
The Judicial Service Commission interviewed over 50 judicial candidates in 2019 and while all the JSC interviews are interesting, there are always a few which stand out and capture people’s attention. Here are some of the most popular JSC interviews from 2019: Mr Daniel Mafeleu Thulare The issues around judicial governance hit the JSC […]
JOASA Statement: Thulare’s comments on Judicial Authority
The last round of JSC interviews took place from the 7 – 11 October 2019. On Tuesday 8 October, Mr Daniel Thulare, the Cape Town Chief Magistrate, was interviewed for a position on the Western Cape High Court bench. During the interviews he was questioned by the Chief Justice regarding comments he had made during […]
Hlophe Tribunal set to resume
The Judicial Conduct Tribunal for Western Cape Judge President John Mandlakayise Hlophe is scheduled to resume on Monday, 21 October 2019, in Johannesburg. At the last meeting of the Tribunal on 2 July 2018, Judge Musi recused himself, and the Tribunal was postponed indefinitely. Judges Matter was informed of the new date for the Tribunal […]
The Importance of Transparency in Judicial Selections and Appointments
This article was originally published by the UNODC’s Global Judicial Integrity Network. Read the original article. In October 2018, the Southern African Chief Justices’ Forum (SACJF) formally adopted the Lilongwe Principles and Guidelines on the Selection and Appointment of Judicial Officers. The Lilongwe Principles and Guidelines, which have previously been discussed in a ‘Views’ piece […]
Judges speak through their judgments
The response to fake news is always tricky – the temptation is overwhelming to jump in and explain in great detail why the news is wrong, misconceived or malicious. The Chief Justice found himself in just such a position and decided to speak out against the allegations. He was joined by Judge Judge President Cagney […]
How Magistrates are selected and appointed in South Africa
In our previous installment, we pointed out that the magistracy is such an important arm of the judiciary, yet they remain understudied and there is very little public discourse on them. We promised to publish a series of installments on this website in order to promote public engagement with the magistracy. In this installment, we […]
Criticism of the judiciary: attacking the authority of the courts
Maintaining the integrity of the judicial process In the Constitution of South Africa, Chapter 9 deals with State Institutions supporting Constitutional Democracy. Under section 194, Removal from Office it states the following; “(2) A resolution of the National Assembly concerning the removal from office of— (a) the Public Protector or the Auditor-General must be adopted […]
