The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) will this month for the first time allow television media to broadcast its interviews with aspirant judges, justice ministry spokesperson Tlali Tlali said on Tuesday.
“The idea really is to have the hearings take place in the open, so that members of society could have access to the proceedings,” Tlali said.
“We understand the role played by the fourth estate, and this is a positive step in the direction, consistent with the provisions of our Constitution.”
The JSC’s interviews with candidates for the bench have traditionally been open to the print media, but television cameras have been kept to the sidelines of the proceedings.
The office of Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo said in a statement that the decision to allow film crews into the interviewing sessions was in keeping with an undertaking he gave to the South African National Editors’ Forum in February “to improve relations between the media and the judiciary”.
The JSC will next week interview candidates for vacancies at the Constitutional Court and high courts.
Media access will, as in the past, not extend to the commissioners’ deliberations on the suitability of candidates, the Justice Department said.–Sapa