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From April 16 to April 25, the Judicial Service Commission will be interviewing candidates for judicial vacancies on the Supreme Court of Appeal and various High Courts.

2012 marks the centenary anniversary of Africa’s oldest liberation movement, the ANC, and on April 27th South Africa celebrates its 18th Freedom Day.

The ANCL has of course changed since liberation - it would be tragic if the ANC in government still functioned as if it were the opposition to oppression. Yes it still defines itself as “South Africa’s national liberation movement”. Can a political party be a liberation movement? And should it be?

At a time when everyone's eyeballing the legislature's every move and every reported threat to the Constitution, the Democratic Governance Rights Unit's (DGRU) third annual Constitution Week, or conweek , running from 12 to 15 March, is well timed. So, too, were the remarks by Constitutional Court Judge and Acting Deputy Chief Justice Zak Yacoob in his opening-event address, A Dynamic Constitution? Read more...

The Democratic Governance and Rights Unit (DGRU) invites you to attend the 3rd annual Constitution Week which will take place from the 12th to the 15th March 2012.

On Wednesday 25 January 2012, the Ad Hoc Parliamentary Committee on the Commission for Gender Equality began interviews to fill nine positions on the Commission for Gender Equality. The Commission has been widely criticised, but these new appointments offer an opportunity to strengthen the Commission's capacity to fulfil it's mandate. The DGRU, together with other interested civil society organisations, made a submission to the ad-hoc committee regarding the criteria which should inform the interview and selection process.

The DGRU’s focus on judicial governance has led to it making available to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) research reports on candidates for judicial appointment, and to DGRU researchers attending, monitoring and commenting on the interviews of candidates for judicial appointment. Such reports have been complied for the September 2009, October 2010 and April 2011 interviews.

President Zuma recently nominated Constitutional Court Judge Mogoeng Mogoeng as the nation’s next chief justice, overlooking several more experienced jurists for the post.

There has been a widespread outcry to this nomination with a number of legal and civil society organstiations making submissions to the JSC in this regard. The JSC will interview Judge Mogoeng on Saturday 3 September.

On 26 July, the public were invited to make submissions on the draft Judges’ Remuneration and Conditions of Employment Amendment Bill to parliament. DGRU staff made an oral submission.

Prof Richard Calland, director of the DGRU, told the committee that the proposed changes in the bill "remains constitutionally problematic".

DGRU researchers contributed to the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) civil society report which was launched in June

Press reports of the possible impending arrest of Public Protector Thuli Madonsela have inevitably invited speculation about the timing of the possible arrest, in light of the Protector’s investigations into leases entered into by the South African Police Services.

From 4-7 April, the DGRU hosted its annual "Constitution Week" events

Visit the podcasts section for audio extracts of Chief Justice Ngcobo's presentation.

The DGRU and CASAC will be hosting a conference on Public Interest Litigation on 16 May at UCT

The DGRU hosted its annual Constitution Week, a series of events during the week of 04- 07 April 2011 to celebrate the Constitutional Court and its proud record of upholding human rights.

Under the active leadership of the new Chief Justice the judiciary has entered a new phase. While his predecessors understandably focused on the Constitutional Court during its formative years, the new Chief Justice is eager to strengthen the capacity of the judicial arm of govern itself effectively and accountably, in order that confidence in the rule of the law can be maintained.

The Judicial Service Commission Amendment Act 20 of 2008 came into force on 1 June 2010. The Act is of great significance for the governance of the judiciary. In this note, we highlight some of its most important aspects.

In September 2010, the DGRU was approached by the Chief Justice as the head of the Judicial Service Commission, and requested to prepare a research report on the judicial track record of candidates for judicial appointment to be interviewed by the commissioners in October 2010.

The DOJCD recently announced proposed amendments to the Constitution.

Chris Oxtoby and Abongile Sipondo had an Op-ed piece published in the Business Day on the transformation of the judiciary.

'the bench may be transformed in terms of race and gender, and yet not represent as wide a range of views as it might"

From 12 to 19 April 2010, the Judicial Service Commission (“JSC”) held interviews in Cape Town for numerous High Court, Labour Court, Labour Appeal Court (LAC), Deputy Judge President and Judge President positions.

On 20th May DGRU hosted a seminar entitled " the Fifa Footprint - what will be the World Cup's Governance Legacy ?

On 11 June 2010, South Africa will begin hosting the first World Cup on the African continent. The hosting of this mega event is considered by many as a landmark event, not just for South Africa but for the continent as a whole. Amongst all the excitement, it is an opportune time to reflect on the legacy that the World Cup might leave.

The JSC is currently interviewing candidates for High Court and Labour Court positions. The DGRU could not prepare a similar report to the one they did for the Constitutional Court appointments in 2009 (see research report.) but is of the view that the appointment of judges to all levels of the judiciary ought to be governed by the same broad considerations, although certain specific factors will clearly have to be taken into account for specialist courts.

Read more...

The Department of Public Law on behalf of the Climate Change Governance Collaboration (comprising DGRU, African Centre for Cities, Centre for Criminology, Dept of Economics and the Energy Research Centre) hosted a public talk on building an eco-efficient economy.

On 3 Feb 2010 Advocate Susannah Cowen presented the results of her research into and examination of the selection criteria for our judges and the required attributes of the ‘ideal’ South African judge.