Judge to explain late judgments. Picture: Oupa Mokoena/African News Agency (ANA)
Suspended Gauteng High Court, Pretoria Judge Nomonde Mngqibisa-Thusi will face the Judicial Conduct Tribunal today for allegedly not delivering judgments on time.
Constitutional Court Justice Chris Jafta will act as the tribunal president. Retired Judge Dennis Davis will also be part of the tribunal, while advocate Nasreen Rajab-Budlender SC will be part of the proceedings as a non-judicial member of the tribunal.
The hearing follows a complaint lodged earlier by Gauteng High Court Judge President Dunstan Mlambo.
The hearing is expected to last until Thursday..
President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier this year placed Judges Tshifhiwa Maumela and Mngqibisa-Thusi on suspension to allow the Judicial Conduct Tribunal to investigate suspected misconduct regarding alleged excessive delays by the judges in handing down a significant number of judgments.
The president has taken this step in terms of the Constitution, which empowers him to suspend a judge on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission.
In January this year, the Judicial Service Commission accepted a recommendation of the Judicial Conduct Committee that there were reasonable grounds to suspect that the judges were guilty of misconduct in delaying the handing down of a significant number of judgments.
The commission decided that the matter should be referred to the Judicial Conduct Tribunal for investigation.
At its meeting in April, the Judicial Service Commission took a decision to advise the president to suspend the two judges pending the tribunal processes into allegations of gross judicial misconduct.
The Judicial Conduct Committee first dealt with the complaint and found that there was a prima facie (preliminary) case of judicial misconduct.
Judge Maumela was the presiding judge over the murder trial of Senzo Meyiwa. He is accused of failing to deliver a series of judgments within a reasonable period defined in the Judicial Norms and Standards, some going back as far as 2018.
It is not yet known when Judge Maumela will face the tribunal.
Judge Mnqibisa-Thusi is also accused of failing to deliver a series of judgments within a reasonable time. Many of her judgments were delivered after 12 months of the cases being heard, which is in violation of the Judicial Norms and Standards, which require that civil judgments be delivered within three months of the hearing, legal watchdog group Judges Matter said.
It explained that if found guilty of gross misconduct by the tribunal, both judges may face either a hefty fine, remedial training, or be ordered to apologise to the litigants affected.
Pretoria News
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