05 Apr 2017

Parliament has been informed that when a judge reaches retirement age, he/she will notify the Chief Justice of the status of his/her part heard cases and will further indicate the time frame he/she requires to complete such cases.

Answering a question in Parliament on Tuesday, the Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Shaw Kgathi said the ‘Judicial Service Commission (JSC) will then determine the need, and length of the extension of the judge’s term.

He further said on the basis of this, JSC will then make a recommendation to the President for the extension of the judge’s term as may have been determined.

Mr Kgathi noted that this process was observed in respect of Justices John Mosojane, Mpaphi Phumaphi and Lakvinder Walia.

Parliament heard that reports on the status of their part heard cases and the time frames required for each to complete such cases were placed before JSC by the Registrar and Master, who is the secretary of the Commission.

He highlighted that the JSC accordingly considered the need for extension and thereafter made appropriate recommendations to the President for the extension of their appointments to enable them to complete their part heard cases.

Minister Kgathi was responding to a question in Parliament posed by Selebi Phikwe West MP, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse who had asked him whether the judge or Chief Justice who has not yet reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 but is nearing that age may have his or her contract extended on the basis that it is anticipated that by the time he or she reaches 70 years, he or she may not have finished matters before him.

MP Keorapetse also asked if this is true in respect of some judges and also wanted the minister to name those judges and explain further this process including the role of the Judicial Service Commission, Administration of Justice and the President. ENDS