Advocate slams ‘disturbing behaviour’ of Cape Bar, JSC

E-Brief News reports that Hazell instigated impeachment proceedings against Hlophe for, among other things, ‘gross misconduct’, although his suspension by the CBC was not related to the Hlophe complaint. It relates to his criticism of judges, which the CBC found to be both discourteous and groundless, but Hazell remains unrepentant, arguing strongly he was simply discharging his duty to his clients. In the heads of argument in his appeal to the GCB, Hazell claims the matters are inextricably linked by common threads, such as respect for the law; freedom of expression, including the right of everyone to comment fairly on any matter of public importance; the duty of every advocate to speak for his/her client; and the need for judges to deserve the respect of the public.

He urges the GCB to take a courageous stand when deciding his appeal and to display ‘the required commitment to the core values of the advocates’ profession’, writes E-Brief News. He adds: ‘I ask its members to take a firm stand by boldly confronting the unprofessional “wishy-washy weakness” of the CBC, by censuring its stubborn refusal to admit its own clear errors pertaining to almost every aspect of this whole sorry saga; and by speaking up unequivocally about the danger to the rule of law that will arise if no challenge is voiced when judges fault advocates for “scurrilous and contemptuous” drafting when they are merely doing their jobs.’ He accuses the CBC of an ‘appalling lack of judgment’ and adds: ‘I hate to think that the CBC majority might have wanted to “put me in my place” for going public about the damage done by the CBC’s unseemly mishandling of the entire Hlophe debacle. The problem here is that I can find no other semi-rational way of trying to explain the blind refusal of the CBC to respect the binding law; their refusal (indeed inability) to provide any actual reasons for their actions; or their stubborn refusal to fix their glaring mistakes.’ Hazell’s heads of argument in his GCB appeal More on the Hazell argument in the sidebar on the right

The Hlophe issue has threatened the unity of the country’s largest and most influential association of advocates. Half the members of the Johannesburg Bar Council resigned their positions and boycotted the annual meeting last week, says the Sunday Times, noting they are all members of the pressure group Advocates for Transformation. The advocates who resigned were reacting to a resolution calling on the Bar to vote that Judge Hlophe’s conduct was ‘improper and incompatible with (his) office’, and that he should resign. Among them was the council’s deputy chairman, Patric Mtshaulana SC, who had argued the adoption of the resolution would ‘undermine our judges and our judiciary at a time when it is so critical for all of us to strengthen our democracy’. He added: ‘Is it not better for the profession to raise the issue with the judges first, before this public debate?’ He said that while ‘freedom of expression is an important constitutional right, rights do not exist in a vacuum. We think the exercise of freedom of expression in this case has (the) potential of dividing us and causing more harm at the expense of one or two people exercising freedom of expression’. The report notes although the resignations were largely symbolic – the current council has reached the end of its tenure – they had the desired effect since the meeting, attended by only about 120 of the 719 members, voted to defer the resolution to a ‘subsequent general meeting’. In deferring the vote, the Bar decided to await more information on the JSC’s decision not to proceed against Hlophe. A demand for information has been made by Cape advocate Peter Hazell SC, who called for Hlophe’s impeachment last year. Full Sunday Times report

Despite the calls for his head Hlophe has no intention of quitting. That much is evident from a profile piece on the Judge President in the Sunday Times. He told the interviewer: ‘It has taken long to get where I am today. I just want to continue doing my work as JP and to transform the Bench.’ Hlophe adds he has been ‘humbled’ by the ‘overwhelming support’ he has received from other lawyers and judges since Judge Johann Kriegler called for his head. Full profile in the Sunday Times