The Judicial Service Commission could not find the requisite four candidates after interviews notable for the justice minister’s eagerness to merge the court with the supreme court of appeal
None of the four candidates for a vacancy at the apex court were in favour of merging it with the supreme court of appeal
During the hearings from Monday to Wednesday, the Judicial Service Commission will be hoping to fill the last remaining vacancy on the constitutional court
With only three candidates shortlisted, the JSC will again not be able to fill a vacancy that arose at the constitutional court in late 2021
The well-respected Western Cape high court judge was named after the April interviews where the JSC overlooked David Unterhalter a third time
His third unsuccessful candidacy raises the spectre of a legal review and case law dictates that the JSC can be compelled to give reasons for failing to appoint a qualified candidate
The esteemed jurist had to apologise for failing to recuse himself on an application for leave to appeal to the constitutional court, sinking his hopes of a permanent position at the court
In interviews with candidates for the constitutional court, issues of race, gender and transformation featured but did not crowd out questions on points of law
The acting chief justice suggested, in his interview with the Judicial Service Commission for the post of chief justice, that the next round of interviews in April with candidates would be an opportunity to do so
The acting chief justice acknowledged calls for reform after the recent forced rerun of interviews for aspirant apex court judges
Lawyers agree that the issue is inevitably heading for constitutional challenge, but not all accept the mainstream view that the limitation of rights is justifiable
The sense that the commissioners who nominated five candidates for appointment to the Constitutional Court voted for their constituencies, rather than with their conscience, is difficult to shake off.
The Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution again has reservations about how the JSC selected the five names forwarded to the president, after it forced a repeat of interviews first held in April
Alan Dobson SC says a legislating vaccine mandates would have to be weighed against various constitutional provisions and was likely to see legal challenge