THE Public Service Commission (PSC) is calling for legislation to entrench the independence of the offices of the chief state law adviser and the state attorney.This comes after a commission study found there were perceptions that legal opinions were not always impartial, and were drafted to please the government.The quality of the legal advice given to government has been questioned in recent years, most recently when SA — on the advice of the chief state law adviser’s office — allowed Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to enter SA to attend an African Union summit.The Pretoria High Court’s ruling that Bashir — wanted by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity — should not be allowed to leave SA put government on a collision course with the judiciary, after Bashir was allowed to leave, in an apparent breach of a court order.The Office of the chief state law adviser falls under the justice ministry. Its functions include scrutinising draft legislat...
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