A transformation plan for the judiciary — to make it more representative of women and black people — is scheduled to be put to the Cabinet by August this year, Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula and Deputy Minister of Correctional Services Cheryl Gillwald said on Thursday.
They were briefing the media in Pretoria — beamed to Cape Town — on the security cluster plan of action for 2005.
Gillwald said that “lateral entry” into the judiciary — expanding the present system of promoting advocates to the judiciary — is needed. This could include the entry into the judiciary of those from “the magistracy”.
Nqakula said: “Regarding the transformation of the justice system in general, we have set a process in place to develop a policy blueprint to guide the transformation process.”
The blueprint “will be submitted to Cabinet, together with key legislative proposals, to fast-track the transformation process before the end of August 2005.
“We have created an environment for robust and vibrant discourse on the transformation of the judiciary. The matter is the subject of ongoing discussions of the Judicial Services Commission and the Magistrates’ Commission and on heads of courts, which is an informal structure to facilitate discussions on substantive transformational issues.”
The minister and deputy minister indicated that implementation of the blueprint could include legislative measures.
“The transformation initiatives include development of a comprehensive human resource development strategy to enhance the pool from which women and black practitioners can be prepared for appointment to the bench, and to advance career mobility in the department and within the justice family at large,” said Nqakula.
Nqakula noted that the heads of courts “have acknowledged the existence of elements of racism within the judicial system”.
“A special committee has been established to investigate the extent to which racism exists within the judiciary and will submit a report to the chief justice in due course.” — I-Net Bridge