16 September 2007
The time had come to stop seeing magistrates as separate from the judiciary,
Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development, Brigitte Mabandla said
today. Mabandla was speaking during the closing of a two-day Magistrates
Conference that was held in Johannesburg over the weekend. It was the first
time that Magistrates had gathered together in such big numbers over 500
magistrates and other high profile local, regional and international delegates
attended - to discuss the way forward for themselves in a new regime.
A number of magistrates at the conference brought up the fact that it was a
case of "them and us" when it came to magistrates and judges. Chief Justice
Pius Langa took note of this and said that steps were being taken to concretise
a single judiciary with heads of the courts considering a system of
collaboration between the high courts and the lower courts.
The Minister said that creating a single judiciary was a "massive
transformational trajectory" which would take time to evolve, but which was
evolving. "We are in the process and have been for a while, of defining a
single judiciary and looking at ways of strengthening the independence of the
magistracy. This is very important as so many scenarios exist for a single
judiciary," she said. When Dullah Omar was Minister for Justice he started a
process of defining magistrates in South Africa as being truly part of the
judiciary. This transformational process has been strengthening over time.
"We should not forget that before 1993 the magistracy was still part of the
civil service. The process of separating the magistracy from the Executive
effectively started from 1994," said the Minister. She said judicial
transformation was "a work in progress⦠but we now must begin to see results."
A number of important transformational bills, such as the amendment to the
Judicial Services Act, were before parliament at the moment. The Minister urged
Magistrates to engage in debate around the bills. A policy document would also
be released this year on transformation of the judiciary as well as a document
on transformation of the legal sector all which will have huge impact on the
stakeholders," she said.
The magistracy needed to engage on the issues. The myth that the judiciary
could function in isolation from Parliament had to be debunked. "We need to
change that perception and we need to begin to define how we work together as
different arms of government. We are separate but we work cooperatively." The
conference was important because magistrates themselves were now sitting down
to discuss the legislation relating to a number of transformational judicial
bills before parliament, she said. "They are engaging the issues and this is
helping the magistracy take responsibility and define judicial accountability.
It is the start of establishing a system of collaboration."
Deputy Minister Johnny de Lange took a strong stance against some of the
debate at the conference which he said seemed to be driven by 'self-interest.'
"It's our duty to take the debate to another level and the one thing we need to
change is the element of self-interest that is coming through. We can't
participate in an institution for our nation driven by what's best for
ourselves as individuals."
The conference also discussed harmonising the work of the Judicial
Service
Commission and that of the Magistrates Commission which provides separate
mechanisms for the appointment of magistrates and judges. The possibility of a
single commission was discussed. The issue of traditional leaders was also an
important issue that came up for discussion, the Minister said. "We need to
acknowledge that traditional leaders exist, that they have a role to play in
resolution of certain prescribed minor disputes and we must mainstream them. We
need to start the process to create synergies between traditional leaders and
the magistracy."
Enquiries:
Phumla Mthala
Tel: 012 357 8234
Cell: 079 528 4661
Issued by: Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
16 September 2007
Source: Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (http://
www.doj.gov.za)
