Calls for politicians to be excluded from JSC sittings after recent Chief Justice interviews

Calls have been made for politicians to be excluded from sitting on the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) after the recent interviews that were conducted for the position of Chief Justice.

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) consists of 23 members.

Ten of them are members of Parliament from both the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, as allowed for in the constitution.

Members of Parliament are not just chosen randomly and they don’t just serve willy-nilly on the JSC. The constitution requires the inclusion of ten MPs to sit on the JSC.

Six are from the National Assembly of which three must be from the opposition benches.

The remaining four are delegates from the NCOP.

All their names are first selected through a parliamentary process. Both Houses have to pass resolutions first to approve the names of those who will serve on the JSC.

In the case of the NCOP, the resolution must be supported by at least six provinces. It would, therefore, only be a successful constitutional amendment of section 178 (1) that may change the composition of the JSC.

JSC Interviews | The form and functions of the Judicial Services Commission: Doris Tshepe