Keep politicians away from judges - academic

So says Professor Pierre de Vos, of the Constitutional Law Department at the University of the Western Cape, in a Mail & Guardian Online report. He points to the ANC document, which includes proposals to merge the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal, and to create a 'judicial council' to assist the Chief Justice with governance of the judiciary. The document also proposes that an advisory board - consisting of legal representatives and civil society delegates - draft rules for all courts and that the Minister of Justice should control the administration of courts, leaving judges only to adjudicate cases. Says De Vos: 'The proposals seem to resuscitate the idea that judicial independence merely requires judges to be allowed to decide their cases, effectively leaving the administration of justice in the hands of the Minister.' He argues judicial independence can be safeguarded 'only if politicians are kept at arm's length from the administration of justice and from decisions about how to administer the courts'. Full Mail & Guardian Online report