The Cape Bar Council is to take the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to court for making only one appointment to the Western Cape High Court, leaving two positions vacant, Business Day newspaper reported on Monday.
Last month, the JSC recommended only person for appointment — former magistrate Robert Henney — despite there being three vacancies and seven candidates.
Senior counsels from the Cape Bar were overlooked.
Cape Bar Council chairperson Alasdair Sholto-Douglas, SC, said the council would not only challenge the procedure followed by the JSC but also the merits of its decision.
He said the failure to make more appointments was irrational.
Sholto-Douglas said the council would ask the court to order the JSC to reconvene and reconsider all the candidates.
JSC spokesperson Dumisa Ntsebeza, SC, told Business Day that the JSC would only comment on the case “once we’ve received the [court] papers”. – Sapa