Legislation: Lower Courts, Magistrates Bills still works in progress

Progress is apparently being made with draft legislation to eventually replace the 1944 Magistrates’ Court Act and 1993 Magistrates Act – in keeping with government’s commitment to modernising the statutory framework for SA’s lower courts and their judiciary, reports Pam Saxby for Legalbrief Policy Watch.  Confirming this on Wednesday in his 2108/19 Office of the Chief Justice budget vote speech, Justice and Constitutional Development Deputy Minister John Jeffery told members of the National Assembly that, once in force, the Magistrates Bill envisaged will – ‘as far as it is possible’ – align ‘misconduct proceedings’ with those applicable to judges. The Deputy Minister singled out provisions in the draft Bill dealing with ‘the suspension and removal’ of a magistrate from office and ‘the declaration of registrable interests’.

As Legalbrief Today has already reported, once operational the Lower Courts Bill will replace the Magistrates’ Courts Act, aligning all related administrative provisions with those introduced by the 2013 Superior Courts Act. Speaking at a Judicial Officers Association of SA gala dinner in Johannesburg in May last year, Jeffery revealed that work on the Bill had been delayed by ‘unforeseen human resources and budget constraints’. This may explain why the National Assembly’s Justice and Correctional Services Committee has since requested the Deputy Minister to ‘expedite’ the drafting process. Noting this in his budget vote address, Jeffery nevertheless emphasised the ‘vital’ importance of proper consultation – referring to a second round of engagements apparently only just concluded. Having received ‘preliminary comments’ on each Bill from the magistracy’s leadership, the proposed new legislation will now be ‘further refined’ in anticipation of consulting Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng on its contents.