The first black judge in South Africa was appointed to the bench in 1991. Since the inception of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) in 1994, there has been a concerted effort to transform the judiciary by making it more equitable and diverse in terms of gender and race. This is in line with section 174(2) […]
Originally the Constitutional Court was established as the final court on all constitutional matters. However, following the 17th amendment Act of 2012 it is now South Africa’s highest court on all matters. The Constitutional Court consists of the Chief Justice, the Deputy Chief Justice and nine other judges. Thus, the Court’s bench is supposed to […]
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 popular articles in 2018. 1. The JSC’s uneven line of questioning on judicial transformation Posted: 8 June 2018 Section 174 (2) of […]
Here is our overview of some of the highlights from the JSC Interviews and other judicial developments during the year of 2018. April 2018 JSC interviews At the April round of interviews the JSC interviewed nine candidates for the Supreme Court of Appeal. This included interviewing Judge President Betty Molemela who was duly nominated to […]
After the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) Interviews on 2 October 2018, the Chief Justice sat down with Judges Matter and the media to address the question of Constitutional Court vacancies. The question raised was to address the fact that in 2018 the JSC did not advertise (or call for nominations) for Constitutional Court vacancies even […]
The Judge President of the Western Cape asked a number of questions in the October 2017 hearings of the JSC. These questions went to what are called the skewed briefing patterns that exist, generally referring to how members of the advocates’ profession obtain work from attorneys. He asked Mr Papier: The issue Mr Papier, of […]
Last week Paul Hoffman SC, the Director and Head of Projects at The Institute for Accountability in Southern Africa (IFAISA), wrote an opinion piece for Daily Maverick titled; The Justice John Hlophe Inquiry Papers: Going nowhere fast. This piece was originally written by Hoffman in 2008 but in light of the ongoing allegations surrounding Judge […]
Whenever there are vacancies in the judiciary, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) advertises those vacancies, receives nominations, shortlists candidates, and public interviews are conducted to select candidates who are then recommended for appointment by the President. In order to qualify for appointment as a judge, one must be appropriately qualified and must be considered to […]
The Constitutional Court currently has two vacancies open. These vacancies have not been advertised in the call for nominations for the JSC’s October 2018 interviews. This has surprised many people, as the vacancies have stood open since June 2016 and January 2018 respectively – so it is not as if these have only suddenly become […]
What role can judges play in preventing the Stalingrad legal strategy of criminals bent on manipulating the system? To begin let us define what we mean by a Stalingrad strategy: This is a strategy of wearing down the plaintiff by tenaciously fighting anything the plaintiff presents by whatever means possible and appealing every ruling favourable […]
