What Judge Motata did wrong
What did Judge Motata actually do wrong? The Judicial Tribunal, lead by Judge President Jappie, enquiring into the complaint laid against Judge Motata has resulted in an extremely serious finding. It finds that sec 177(1)(a) of the Constitution should be invoked, which, if done, would result in the Judge being impeached. What did Judge Motata […]
Seeking clarity on judicial conduct
Article 12(2) of the Code of Judicial Conduct for South African Judges states that; “A judge must, upon permanent appointment, immediately sever all professional links and recover speedily all fees and other amounts outstanding and organise his or her personal business affairs to minimise the potential for conflicts of interest.” But what does ‘upon permanent […]
Bringing transparency to the JSC process
Every year in April and October Judges Matter runs strategic social media campaigns in order to bring the Judicial Service Commission Interviews to you. These multi-level campaigns include Facebook posts, live tweeting, YouTube videos and most importantly a live stream of the JSC interviews themselves. The JSC interviews are open to the public and our […]
The role of NGOs in the Courts
South Africa has a remarkably extensive civil society sector, ranging from small to large, complex organisations with sizeable staff and budgets. Before 1994, many organisations worked to end apartheid. In the post-apartheid era, some NGOs seem to have continued with the role of being watch dogs, playing oversight role on the government while others function […]
Judge Makhubele: High Court Judge and Parastatal Chair?
Can a sitting judge be a member of a board of directors? The role of judges on the boards of charities and not for profit organisations has certainly been questioned from time to time. In the most recent October hearings of the JSC, now Judge Unterhalter when asked about his affiliations with civil society organisations […]
The Judges Matter Top 10 JSC interviews 2017
As part of our work and to create greater transparency around the judiciary and the JSC interviews, we write profiles and interview synopses of each of the candidates who are interviewed by the JSC. To give you some insight into some of the judicial candidates who appear before the JSC we’ve put together a list […]
The most watched JSC interviews 2017
Watching the Judicial Service Commission interviews can give you great insight into the nature of a candidate as well as the judiciary and the JSC itself. As not everyone can attend the JSC interviews and watch them live, we record all the interviews and share the videos on our YouTube channel for you to watch. […]
Our most read articles of 2017
Throughout the year we write articles to share more information about the JSC, the judges’ interview process and the South African judicial system as a whole. Here is a list of our most read and most popular articles in 2017. 1. Malema’s questions for judges at the JSC interviews Posted: 14th March 2017 As one […]
Response to ‘a bridge too far’
Last week Judges Matter wrote an article, a bridge too far, which discussed the ideals for transformation on the bench. In response to our article Leon Dicker, a retired advocate and member of the Pretoria Bar, arbitrator, former magistrate, lecturer and trainer of magistrates at Justice College, wrote this comment; A well written article on […]
The use of indigenous languages in the courts
When you are in a court in which the judge, the prosecutor, the accused, and the defence lawyer all speak isiXhosa, why should the proceedings be English? There are several answers to this, which are put forward in judgments and at the Judicial Service Commission, but they ring increasingly hollow. The main argument is that […]