Alan Dodson
latest news & developments
JSC struggles to recommend Concourt candidate amid workflow, jurisdiction challenges
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…
Concourt candidates pressed on solution to its backlog problem
None of the four candidates for a vacancy at the apex court were in favour of merging it with the supreme court of appeal
Preview: JSC to hold hearings with candidates for key judicial posts
During the hearings from Monday to Wednesday, the Judicial Service Commission will be hoping to fill the last remaining vacancy on the constitutional court
The trouble with the JSC and the Concourt
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
Owen Rogers appointed to the constitutional court
The well-respected Western Cape high court judge was named after the April interviews where the JSC overlooked David Unterhalter a third time
JSC says Unterhalter was excluded by majority vote
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…
Unterhalter overlooked by the JSC for a third time
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…
Zondo keeps JSC interviews decorous after reiterating old criteria
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
Zondo: JSC has a duty to consider white judges for constitutional court
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…
Zondo opposes calls to change judicial appointment process
The acting chief justice acknowledged calls for reform after the recent forced rerun of interviews for aspirant apex court judges
The uncertain consensus around vaccine mandates
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
JSC lets politics trump conscience and excellence
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…
Casac demands record of deliberations on ConCourt candidates
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…
Vaccine mandate quandary heading to court, Concourt candidate predicts
Alan Dobson SC says a legislating vaccine mandates would have to be weighed against various constitutional provisions and was likely to see legal challenge