JSC gets Hlophe document

2008-06-17 19:08

Johannesburg - The Judicial Service Commission on Tuesday received a 27-page document relating to the Constitutional Court's complaint against Cape Judge President John Hlophe.

"What we received is a response from the Chief Justice on behalf of all the judges of the court," said JSC spokesperson Advocate Marumo Moerane.

He would not elaborate on the contents, other than to say: "It's the sort of thing that was called on the Constitutional Court to provide.

"Judge Hlophe will be called on within 10 days to give his response. After that the Constitutional Court has five days to react to his response.

"We will meet on July 5 to deliberate on all these papers."

The constitutional court judges met on Tuesday following developments related to their release on May 30 of a statement alleging interference on the part of the Cape Judge President.

This related to the court's forthcoming judgment in ANC president Jacob Zuma and arms company Thint's attempts to challenge a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling on aspects of searches and seizure relating to the pending corruption case.

Hlophe has, in turn, lodged a complaint at the JSC against the Constitutional Court on the grounds that their going public with the allegation violated his rights and did not follow a fair process.

'Complainant judges'

Meanwhile, Constitutional Court Judges Bess Nkabinde and Acting Judge Chris Jafta have written to the JSC saying they were not the "complainant judges" and would not make further statements on the matter.

On June 12, the JSC asked the judges in a letter if a complaint against Hlophe was to be pursued, and if there was evidence to support it.

Moerane said he believed Chief Justice Pius Langa had recused himself from the JSC chair for the matter.

"He has asked Judge President (Craig) Howie to chair the commission," said Moerane.

He said he did not know if the judges sent their complaint to the JSC before or after releasing the public statement.

He said that the communication they did receive, was the same as the statement sent to the press and its covering note referred to it as a complaint against Hlophe.

Comment was not immediately available from the Constitutional Court and the judges' lawyer, Advocate Gilbert Marcus, said he could not comment.

- SAPA