The Constitutional Court grappled on Thursday with whether the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) should disclose recordings of its secret deliberations before voting on judicial appointments. The JSC robustly questions candidates for judicial appointments in public, but its deliberations‚ where judges decide on who should be recommended for appointments‚ have always been held behind closed doors. The Helen Suzman Foundation wants that to change. It has been arguing on this issue since 2013, following its decision to review — in the High Court in Cape Town — the recommendation by the JSC that Mokgoatji Dolamo be appointed to the bench of the high court instead of venerated advocate Jeremy Gauntlett SC. The Helen Suzman Foundation wanted the high court to declare that the JSC’s decision was irrational in law. When a decision goes on review‚ the record of the decision that is challenged must be handed over to court in terms of rule 53 of the Uniform Rules of Court. The JSC did not hand...
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