Quote of the week
Although judicial proceedings will generally be bound by the requirements of natural justice to a greater degree than will hearings before administrative tribunals, judicial decision-makers, by virtue of their positions, have nonetheless been granted considerable deference by appellate courts inquiring into the apprehension of bias. This is because judges ‘are assumed to be [people] of conscience and intellectual discipline, capable of judging a particular controversy fairly on the basis of its own circumstances’: The presumption of impartiality carries considerable weight, for as Blackstone opined at p. 361 in Commentaries on the Laws of England III . . . ‘[t]he law will not suppose possibility of bias in a judge, who is already sworn to administer impartial justice, and whose authority greatly depends upon that presumption and idea’. Thus, reviewing courts have been hesitant to make a finding of bias or to perceive a reasonable apprehension of bias on the part of a judge, in the absence of convincing evidence to that effect.
Livesey v The New South Wales Bar Association [1983] HCA 17; (1983) 151 CLR 288
Too few nominations for Judicial Posts: JSC
JUDICIAL SERVICE COMMISSION
MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT
JUDICIAL VACANCIES
NOTICE OF EXTENSION
Kindly note that in light of the number of the nominations received, the Judicial Service Commission (Commission) has decided to extend the date of the nominations to fill the vacancies listed below to 01 July 2011.
The Commission invites nominations to fill vacancies as Judges in the following
Courts:
1. Supreme Court of Appeal
One vacancy for Deputy President
2. Electoral Court
One vacancy
Candidates for this vacancy do not need to be judges but should either be
Advocates or Attorneys.
3. Eastern Cape High Court (Grahamstown)
One vacancy
4. Free State High Court
Two vacancies
5. KwaZulu-Natal High Court
One vacancy for Judge President
Three vacancies for Judges
6. Labour Court
One vacancy
7. North and South Gauteng High Courts
Five vacancies
8. Western Cape High Court
Three vacancies
Nominations must be accompanied by the candidate’s written consent, detailed curriculum vitae disclosing the candidate’s formal qualifications for appointment, the standard questionnaire completed and signed by the candidate, as well as copies of at least three written judgments by the candidate. The standard questionnaire to be completed by all nominees is available on the Constitutional Court website www.constitutionalcourt.org.za.
The JSC reserves the right to recommend a candidate for the filling of any vacancy which may exist at the time of the interviews. This is to avoid the situation which has arisen in the past when, despite the availability of suitable candidates, no appointments could be made to fill vacancies which had occurred subsequent to the notice calling for nominations. Consequently, in making nominations, regard should be had to the possibility that more judicial vacancies may occur than have been advertised.
The Secretariat wishes to emphasize the following points:
1. Interviews with short-listed candidates will be conducted in public, i.e. members of the public and the media (both electronic and print) will be entitled to be present.
2. It is open to persons or bodies nominating candidates to motivate their nominations by referring the JSC to the candidate’s qualifications and general fitness for appointment.
3. The questionnaire must be accompanied by the standardized “clearance certificate” which the candidate is required to obtain from his/her professional body regarding the candidate’s professional status within that body, his or her suitability for appointment to the Bench and the nature of any disciplinary proceedings completed or pending in respect of the relevant candidate.
4. Nominations must be addressed to and reach the Secretariat of the JSC by no later than Friday, 01 July 2011 at 16h00. The JSC will not consider any nomination received after the abovementioned date.
The date and venue for the interviews will be communicated to candidates in due course.
Applications must be addressed to:
The Secretariat of the JSC
Constitutional Court
Private Bag Xl
Constitution Hill
Braamfontei n
Johannesburg
2017
Statement issued by Sello Chiloane, Secretariat: Judicial Service Commission, June 17 2011
