President Zuma's keynote address on the judiciary represents an encouraging new start

President Zuma's call for urgency in finalising the Superior Courts Bill is appropriate because it is consistent with the Constitution and also with the agreement reached between the Heads of Court and Justice Minister Jeff Radebe on 7th June this year that the rationalistion of the courts will proceed but that the issues which have caused contention for the better part of this decade will remain under discussion (see speech).

The Constitution in Schedule 6, section 16 (6) requires that the structure and jurisdiction of all courts must be rationalised to suit the requirements of the Constitution.

The DA is greatly encouraged by the fact that the original 14th Constitutional Amendment Bill which attempted to give government control of the administration and budget of the courts is not on the agenda and expresses the hope that the Superior Courts Bill when tabled will deal only with the structure and jurisdiction of the courts. It must be stripped of all provisions that allow the executive to encroach on their institutional and administrative independence. The Minister of Justice simply cannot assume a rule-making role in an institution where the government is frequently itself involved in litigation. This would constitute a clear conflict of interest.

President Zuma also made a real contribution to the debate on the transformation of the judiciary during his keynote speech at the Second Judicial Conference in Pretoria. He said that transformation goes beyond the composition of the judiciary and should also mean greater access to justice - physical, financial, linguistic and cultural. Clear policy makes it possible to deal with real problems.

Yet the only policy that exists is a draft dating from Minister Brigitte Mabandla's tenure. During most of this decade, the vague invocation of racial transformation has served as the only justification for the introduction of laws and constitutional amendments that called the government's commitment to the separation of powers in question and which were designed to control the courts. President Zuma appears to be starting with a clean slate.

Statement issued by Dene Smuts MP, Democratic Alliance shadow minister of justice, July 7 2009

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