JSC to interview candidates to fill electoral & labour court vacancies

JOHANNESBURG - The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) will on Tuesday sit to fill vacancies in the country’s electoral and labour courts.

The commission will interview five candidates for both courts, which are under pressure.

While the Electoral Court faced elections with only two judges, the Labour Court continues to battle major backlogs.

This round of interviews was meant to include the Competition Appeal Court, but the JSC only received one nomination to fill the vacancy and the candidate was not a judge and so not eligible for appointment.

For the Electoral Court, Judge Leicester Adams from the Gauteng High Court is the only candidate and will take his third shot at appointment after he was unsuccessful in October 2023 and April last year for having limited experience in electoral disputes.

The race for the Labour Court is hotly contested, with four candidates being interviewed to fill three vacancies.

Among the hopefuls are advocate Bartholomew Ford, who boasts 30 years in labour law experience and advocate Dawn Norton, who has had several acting stints at the Labour Court but has a record with the Legal Practice Council where her fellow directors were slammed for failing to safeguard clients' money in a trust account.

That may be a dark cloud hanging over her candidature.