WC High Court finds its former Judge President John Hlophe unfit to serve on JSC
It’s consequently set aside a decision by the National Assembly (NA) last July to endorse the recommendation of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party to have him serve as one of its six parliamentarians.
MK Party parliamentary leader John Hlophe sworn in as an MP on 25 June 2024. Picture: GCIS
CAPE TOWN - The Western Cape High Court has found its former Judge President, John Hlophe, to be neither fit nor proper to serve on the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
It’s consequently set aside a decision by the National Assembly (NA) last July to endorse the recommendation of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party to have him serve as one of its six parliamentarians.
The matter was heard in February by a full bench of judges from outside the division, after the court previously granted an interdict in favour of the Democratic Alliance, Freedom Under Law and Corruption Watch, preventing Hlophe from participating in the work of the commission pending this matter.
The NA has in previous administrations never second-guessed the candidates political parties nominate from within their ranks to serve on the JSC.
But in a judgment handed down on Monday, the court said the NA had fundamentally misunderstood the nature of its powers to designate members to serve on the body that interviews candidates to become judges.
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The court says while it does not dispute arguments made by the MK Party that Hlophe is highly qualified, his removal from the bench on charges of gross misconduct is the issue.
This, the court says seriously threatens the independence of the judiciary and his presence on the JSC would prejudice the commission’s ability to do its work.
“Dr Hlophe’s academic ability does not cure this,” reads the judgment.
“Through the impeachment of Dr Hlophe, the National Assembly has effectively already determined that his continued involvement in judicial affairs would diminish public trust.”
The court says by Hlophe trying to appeal this judgment in the first part of this case, he’s shown disregard for the authority and integrity of the courts.
For this reason it’s made an order that a judge removed for gross misconduct may never serve on the JSC.
Hlophe has also been ordered to pay costs on a punitive scale for disparaging remarks he’s made about the litigants and the judges in this matter.