Judges to tackle court delays

2009-07-08 22:14

Pretoria - Judges have resolved to tackle court delays and lengthy case backlogs, Chief Justice Pius Langa said on Wednesday at the end of a four-day conference in Pretoria.

"What we are doing is fashioning mechanisms to deal with that," said Langa at a press briefing after the close of the Second Judges Conference of South Africa.

"I think what is very important is that all the judges will be paying special attention in their ways and means in their particular circumstances, which may not be similar throughout the country to deal with this problem. We regard it as one of the priorities."

This entailed developing and putting into effect proper case management rules and reviewing current rules of practice and procedures to ensure that these promoted rather than obstructed access to court.

Single judiciary

Langa said judges supported the idea of a single judiciary as envisaged by the Constitution. This would include magistrates' courts, with the constitutional court as the apex of the hierarchy.

"A single judiciary has been mooted in other quarters and has also been mooted in conversations between judges themselves," he said.

"...These courts, judges of the Constitutional Court, judges of the Supreme Court of Appeal, the judges of the high courts, you have the magistracy, they all form part of a judiciary, a South African judiciary.

"When we express principles with regard to the judiciary that includes all of those [judges], including the magistrates. For instance, when we talk about concepts such as the independence of the judiciary we mean they [magistrates' courts] also should be independent," Langa said.

He said the judiciary should also be empowered to administer courts and its own budgets. The shelved Superior Courts Bill had proposed that the department of justice administer courts. This was strongly opposed by many judges.

"To this extent the judiciary will co-operate with other branches of government to develop a model of court administrations that best reflects the principle of judicial independence," he said.

Guided by Constitution

Langa would not be drawn on questions regarding the contentious bill, saying it had yet to be "discussed and negotiated and consulted on. Let's leave that to the consultation process," he said.

He added that judges welcomed the commitment of the executive to independence of the judiciary.

"We will continue to act fearlessly and be guided by conscience as [we] are only accountable to the Constitution and the law. We will not bow to any pressure regardless of its source," Langa said.

"I think this principle of the independence of the judiciary is not for the benefit of the judges but for the benefit of the community.

The judges' conference closed on Wednesday and a draft declaration was adopted. The judiciary was likely to meet again in three years time for a follow-up conference.

- SAPA