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Hlophe: Concourt Won't Budge |
| Publication |
Cape Times |
| Date | 2008-06-18 |
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Web Link |
South Africa's highest court will not allow the Judge John Hlophe matter to
rest.
Not only has the Constitutional Court backed up its complaint against the Cape
judge president with a detailed 27-page statement, but it has delivered a full
response to Judge Hlophe's complaint that it acted unconstitutionally and was
motivated by "undesirable political consideration".
Despite Judge Hlophe's protests, the 27-page document - which has the support of
all the court's justices - has persuaded the Judicial Service Commission to
continue its investigation into Judge Hlophe's alleged gross misconduct.
"The JSC will definitely be dealing with the complaint according to the
timetable given on June 6," said JSC spokesperson advocate Marumo Moerane SC,
shortly after receiving a document from the Constitutional Court late on
Tuesday.
He would not say what was in the document, but confirmed it was a statement from
Constitutional Court Chief Justice Pius Langa on behalf of the entire bench.
Justice Bess Nkabinde and Acting Justice Christopher Jafta - who caused waves
last week when it was revealed they would not make statements on Judge Hlophe's
alleged attempt to lobby them - have backed Justice Langa's statement.
Judge Hlophe's lawyer, Lister Nuku, confirmed receiving both sets of documents
on Tuesday afternoon. Nuku said the judge had 10 calendar days to respond to
both documents.
According to the JSC's timetable for the resolution of the issue, the
Constitutional Court then has five calendar days - till Wednesday July 2 - to
answer Judge Hlophe's response to its complaint.
The JSC is due to discuss the matter on July 5.
Last week, Nuku accused the Constitutional Court of vilifying Judge Hlophe
"without having lodged with the JSC" and sacrificing him "to the altar of public
opinion".
The Constitutional Court handed over details of its complaint against the
controversial judge after two days of discussions behind closed doors at
Constitution Hill.
In its initial complaint of May 30, the Constitutional Court alleged Judge
Hlophe had improperly tried to influence two justices in favour of ANC president
Jacob Zuma's appeals on the Scorpions' corruption investigation against him.
It is understood that the top court has asked that its complaint against Judge
Hlophe be made public, but it remains unclear whether the JSC will release the
document.
On Sunday, referring to the leaking of letters written by justices Nkabinde and
Jafta, the JSC criticised the "widespread disrespect for confidentiality" and
apparent disregard for its process. "It is the commission, not the forum of
public debate, to which the constitution assigns the responsibility for
determining issues relating to alleged judicial misconduct," it said.
The JSC is also dealing with Judge Hlophe's 15-page complaint against the
Constitutional Court justices, but has yet to set up a timetable to deal with
it.
The judge slated the Constitutional Court for publicly vilifying him without
lodging a proper complaint with the JSC. He said the action had threatened the
judiciary's independence.
"The conduct was deeply vindictive and grossly inconsistent with any procedural
fairness requirements that it cannot but be concluded that the motives in
issuing the statement were motivated by undesirable political consideration," he
said.
With acknowledgements to Cape Times.