Zuma to open judicial conference

2009-07-04 10:01

Johannesburg - President Jacob Zuma is to open a conference hosted by Constitutional Court Chief Justice Pius Langa on issues plaguing the judiciary.

In a statement on Friday, the justice department said the conference themed: "Strengthening a Transforming Judiciary", would commence on Sunday, July 5 but would be officially opened by the president in Pretoria on Monday.

Judicial independence and the separation of powers features high on the conference agenda.

The judiciary has seen its share of controversy in the last year, notably when the judges of the Constitutional Court lodged a complaint with the JSC alleging that Cape Judge President John Hlophe had tried to influence a judgment relating to Zuma they were working on.

Judges came under fire for a judgment by supporters of Zuma, during his legal battle with the National Prosecuting Authority over corruption charges which were later dropped, and for the manner in which they handled the complaint to the JSC.

ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe disputed that he called the judges "counter-revolutionaries" after Zuma lost an appeal over procedures related to searches carried out during the course of the corruption investigation against him.

Earlier this month the Judicial Services Commission put all interviews for new judges on hold after Justice Minister Jeff Radebe requested time to consider the independence and transformation of the judiciary.

Other issues to be tackled by the conference include access to quality justice, the state of court rolls and backlogs in each division, problems and solutions to backlogs and successes with case roll management.

"Other important issues to be discussed will be the use of languages in courts and a single judiciary, a route to access to quality justice," the department said.

- SAPA