Constitutional Court ruling a victory for the Constitution

The Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution welcomes the unanimous judgment of the Constitutional Court in the challenge to the constitutionality of s.8(a) of the Judges Remuneration and Conditions of Employment Act.

The judgment is a strong affirmation of the principles of the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers.  CASAC took the decision to challenge this legislation in order to uphold these principles.

The Court has taken the opportunity to clarify the tenure of the Chief Justice and all other Constitutional Court judges, and emphasised that a non-renewable term of office is a key ingredient of ‘independence'.

The Court also pointed out that this is the first time that s.8(a) has been used to extend the tenure of a Chief Justice, contrary to repeated public statements by the Minister of Justice and the ANC Chief Whip in the National Assembly.

CASAC trusts that the appointment of the new Chief Justice will be conducted speedily and in accordance with the requirements of the Constitution. We trust that the Judicial Service Commission will hold a public interview of the nominated Chief Justice, as it did when Justice Ngcobo was originally nominated for that position.

Statement issued by Lawson Naidoo, CASAC, July 29 2011

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