ANC pushing ahead with court changes, judicial reform
2 July 2007

 
The ANC is pushing ahead with its plan for the Constitutional Court to become the so-called apex court – planning to make it the court of last resort for all matters, both constitutional and non-constitutional.

Party policy chief Jeff Radebe said 1 500 delegates at last week’s national policy conference recommended the Supreme Court of Appeal, in Bloemfontein, should have the status of intermediate court with a right of final appeal to the Constitutional Court.

Radebe said the conference had also agreed on the need for a single High Court division for each province, and the elimination of apartheid-era names for divisions, such as Transvaal and Bophuthatswana, notes a report in The Times.

Delegates also recommended that the transition in the judiciary be accelerated. According to the Sunday Tribune, Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla was told to speed up the controversial judicial Bills that were shelved last year amid fears that the judiciary's independence was under threat. Conference delegates rejected the concerns of judges and endorsed the position that the Minister should administer the courts and draft its rules.

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