The Constitutional Court has dismissed uMkhonto weSizwe Party’s (MKP’s) leader in Parliament and impeached judge Dr John Hlophe’s appeal of the Western Cape High Court’s interdict that prevented him from sitting as a member of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
Hlophe was removed from office as a Judge by the National Assembly, following the JSC finding him guilty of dishonesty and gross misconduct for his attempts to unlawfully influence two Constitutional Court judges, in 2008, to rule in favour of Jacob Zuma in cases before them.
Last year, he was nominated by the MKP to serve on the JSC, which is responsible for nominating judges for appointment, and for disciplining judges.
Freedom Under Law, which was one of the parties which challenged the National Assembly’s designation of Dr Hlophe as a member of the JSC, welcomed the ConCourt’s judgment.
FUL’s argument was that for someone who had been removed from judicial office for gross misconduct to be a member of the body which was central to the selection of judges was unconstitutional and unlawful, according to FUL executive officer Judith February.
FUL further argued that the National Assembly was unreasonable and irrational in its decision to designate Hlophe as a JSC member, and that it did not fulfil its constitutional obligation to protect the courts.
February said of the ConCourt’s ruling:
“This is an important measure to protect the court process from being stymied by unnecessary appeals, as has so often been witnessed in South African courts in the past decade.”
[Image: By André-Pierre from Stellenbosch, South Africa. – Constitutional Court Building., CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5608955]