A Johannesburg High Court ruling in favour of Judge John Hlophe will not taint a misconduct complaint against him before the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), Pretoria News reported on Saturday.
It said the fight between the Cape judge president and the Constitutional Court is not over yet.
Johannesburg High Court Judge Phineas Mojapelo found on Friday that the Constitutional Court had indeed treated Hlophe unfairly when it laid a complaint against Hlophe at the JSC and issued a public statement about this shortly afterwards.
Hlophe brought an application in July before the high court in a bid to stop the Constitutional Court complaint. Argument was heard in August before a full bench of five judges.
In his majority judgement, Mojapelo said: ”The process before the JSC, particularly the complaint against the applicant, remains totally uncontaminated and will be determined on a different basis from the issues decided in this judgement.
”It is in fact, in the interest of public policy, justice and the judiciary as a whole that the complaint be fully investigated by the JSC.”
In May the Constitutional Court complained to the JSC that Hlophe improperly tried to influence judges in a case involving African National Congress president Jacob Zuma. — Sapa