As South Africa marks Women’s Month, this article asks whether gender transformation can truly be celebrated while sexual harassment remains an open secret in the legal profession. It explores the gap between policy and culture, the progress being made within the judiciary, and why lasting transformation depends on accountability, dignity, and institutional change.
Over the last few years, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has vastly improved its approach to gender parity among judicial candidates. It has begun to ask important questions about the bench as a working environment for women, and to gauge ideas from both male and female candidates on removing barriers in the profession that stop […]
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) […]
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 […]
Section 174 (2) of the Constitution of South Africa, which may be referred to as the “transformation clause” stipulates that the need for the judiciary to “reflect broadly the racial and gender composition of South Africa must be considered” when judges are appointed. The contentious nature of the provision was captured in a question that […]
The South African court system is made up of one Constitutional Court, one Supreme Court of Appeal, 13 High Courts, one Labour Court, one Labour Appeal Court, one Competition Appeal Court, one Electoral Court and one Land Claims Court. The court and judiciary are overseen by the Chief Justice: currently Judge Mogoeng Mogoeng who has […]
As one of the more challenging individuals making up the 23 JSC members, Julius Malema seldom fails to disappoint the spectators at the JSC interviews with his knack for putting candidates in the hot seat. While other JSC commissioners will stick to more conventional lines of questioning, asking about a candidate’s work experience and their […]
