AfriForum takes legal steps to remove Hlophe from JSC

The civil rights organisation AfriForum has started legal proceedings to challenge the National Assembly’s (NA) recent appointment of former judge-president Dr John Hlophe as a member of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) in the Constitutional Court.

AfriForum requests the Constitutional Court in its court application to declare that Hlophe’s appointment is irrational, unlawful and in conflict with the NA’s constitutional duty.

AfriForum has already served its court documents electronically on the Speaker of Parliament, Hlophe and the MK party. An application requesting, among other things, direct access to the Constitutional Court will be issued in this court in the coming week.

According to Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, it is unthinkable that aspiring judges’ ethics, integrity and suitability to serve as a judge should henceforth be assessed by Hlophe as a member of the JSC. This while Hlophe himself was earlier found unfit to serve as a judge by the JSC due to his dishonesty and gross misconduct.

“It is essential that AfriForum fights Hlophe’s appointment to the highest court, because his presence in the JSC seriously undermines the credibility and independence of the judiciary, while it also undermines the rule of law,” adds Kriel.

In AfriForum’s court documents, it is pointed out that the NA, under Article 165 of the Constitution, has a duty to assist and protect the courts, among other things, to ensure the courts’ independence, impartiality, dignity and effectiveness. “By appointing Hlophe, the NA not only neglected its constitutional duty, but acted directly contrary to the Constitution,” emphasises Kriel.

AfriForum argues that the case can be brought directly before the Constitutional Court because this court has exclusive jurisdiction over the case and because the case is urgent. According to Kriel, the JSC will already conduct interviews with prospective judges in October this year and it would violate the public’s trust in the judiciary if Hlophe were to be part of the interview process.

Hlophe is the first judge to be removed from office after 1994 by the NA. This followed after the JSC found him guilty of dishonesty and gross misconduct. His conviction resulted from his attempts to unlawfully influence two judges of the Constitutional Court, Judges Bess Nkabinde and Chris Jafta, in 2008 to rule in favour of Jacob Zuma in cases before them.