In a speech delivered in 2008, Supreme Court of Appeal Judge Carole Lewis implicitly questioned the appointment of some black and female judges to the various courts in South Africa since 1994. She argued in a speech that the JSC has become dominated by politicians after the adoption of the final Constitution in 1996 and that [...]
Posts under ‘Constitutional Court’
Why extend the terms of Constitutional Court judges?
A journalist sent me the most curious draft Bill which – if passed – would amend section 176 of the Constitution. At present that section 176, read with the relevant legislative provisions, limits the terms of Constitutional Court judges to a non-renewable term of between 12 and 15 years (up from 7 years in the interim [...]
Anti-intellectual South Africa deserves the media it has
Journalist Stephen Groottes has taken exception to my post in which I lamented the generally low quality of reporting about legal matters and about our judiciary, and in which I compared it unfavourably with the reporting of such matters in the USA. This seems like an important issue for the health of our democracy and for [...]
Sad reflection on SA media
This week President Barack Obama nominated Elena Kagan to the US Supreme Court. Kagan will have to be confirmed by the US Senate before she would be able to take up her post as the third women on the bench of nine justices. I have been following the debate and discussion in the US in [...]
More power for the provinces?
The Constitutional Court today declared invalid the entire Communal Land Rights Act (also referred to as CLARA). In the case of Tongoane and Others v Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs and Others the Court today found that CLARA was invalid in its entirety because it was not adopted in terms of the correct procedure [...]
Selebi case: “The dog ate his homework”
The state’s cross-examination of former Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi finally came to an end on Friday. I have been following the cross-examination of Selebi on the Mail & Guardian’s amaBhungane Twitter page: not as good as being in court oneself, but facinating – even riveting – nevertheless.
At the end of the cross-examination it was very clear [...]
Hlophe: Here we go again
The Cape High Court yesterday declared “unconstitutional and invalid” the bizarre decision of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) not to investigate the complaint and the counter complaint by the judges of the Constitutional Court and Judge President John Hlophe.
The Court agreed with the view – first raised on this Blog – that the JSC was not [...]
A secret trial for Terreblanche accused?
I must confess that I am dreading the weeks and months ahead as the trial of the alleged killers of Eugene Terreblanche gets under way. The past few days have shown that the killing of Terreblanche has become something of a Rorschach test for South Africans. Many of us seem to have interpreted the killing [...]
On precedent and Mr Von Abo
High Court judges are supposed to have a duty to follow the precedent set by the Constitutional Court and they have to do so in an honest and diligent manner. As readers of this Blog know, I believe South African High Court judges do not always adhere to this injunction. This is either because judges are ignorant [...]
A lot of hot air about section 205
Minister of Police Nathi Mthetwa and members of the police force (including the Police Commissioner) are – not surprisingly – talking a lot of rubbish and making idle threats against journalists who happen to belong to an independent (as opposed to a pro-government) news organisation.
Sadly for them, but luckily for the rest of us, these [...]
