The Judicial Service Commission will this week interview four women judges for a single Constitutional Court spot, starting a process expected to throw into sharp relief some of the tensions related to the independence of the judiciary. The candidates are Supreme Court of Appeal justices Nonkosi Mhlantla, Zukisa Tshiqi and Leona Theron, and KwaZulu-Natal High Court Judge Dhaya Pillay.All are seeking the slot made vacant by the retirement of Justice Thembile Skweyiya last year.There are two women, justices Bess Nkabinde and Sisi Khampepe, and eight men serving on the Constitutional Court, which has 11 such posts.Unlike other judicial appointments, for which the JSC recommends one candidate to the president, the Constitutional Court appointment rests largely on the president's decision.story_article_left1The interviews come at a time of heightened tension between the judiciary and the executive, sparked by the government ignoring a court order barring Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir from leaving South Africa.The ANC-led tripartite alliance, which concluded a summit in Pretoria this week, added fuel to the fire when, in one of its resolutions, it raised concerns about the "emerging trend, in some quarters, of judicial overreach".The declaration said: "There are already commonly expressed concerns that the judgments of certain regions and judges are consistently against the state, which creates an impression of negative bias."Commentators this week said the process to appoint Constitutional Court judges deserved much public scrutiny, with Alison Tilley, of the Judges Matter Coalition, arguing the process was more political than other appointments to the judiciary.Tabeth Masengu, a researcher at the University of Cape Town's Democratic Governance and Rights Unit, said: "It is going to come down to who the president is receiving advice or counsel from and this is the way that appointments have been set up."story_article_right2Professor Hugh Corder, of UCT's department of public law, said: "The Constitutional Court is involved in matters of great public interest which are broadly political matters. It is therefore appropriate that the president has a choice in who is appointed."The other side of this argument, which Corder believes is "valid", questions why the president is given so much discretion for this appointment. "The separation of powers is an intricate government mechanism ... the most critical thing is that each branch of government should respect the other mutually," said Corder.Tilley said: "[The Constitutional Court] is the highest court and there is contention around what the court does and the impact and the breadth of the decisions ... It also results in more executive buy-in because they have to obey the decisions of the court."But a report by the UCT unit expressed concern that there were only four candidates.Chris Oxtoby, a researcher at the unit, said: "One would expect that with the highest court in the land, judges should be falling over themselves to apply for the position."Interviews will be held on Thursday and Friday in Johannesburg...