Would-be judges to face greater scrutiny

Following the recent outcry over judgments made by new Chief Justice Mogoeng, law bodies are intensifying their submissions to the JSC on individuals nominated for or seeking elevation to higher courts. Bar councils across SA have been asked to tighten their written submissions to the JSC on anyone nominated to the High Courts, the SCA, Electoral Court, Labour Court, Competition Appeal Court or the Constitutional Court. According to a notice the Johannesburg Bar Council sent members last month, the General Council of the Bar of SA has requested Bar Councils to comment more vigorously on candidates. Submissions are to be extensive and comprise written comments, thorough research of a candidate's judgments, whether any of these judgments was taken on appeal and the outcome thereof; and if any of the judgments was ground-breaking. The report notes the fine-tuning of submissions to the JSC follows the fierce public outcry about controversial judgments by Mogoeng. Full report in The Times