Supreme Court to face judicial scrutiny

Almost a month after Justice Minister Jeff Radebe unpacked details of the government's much- hyped judicial assessment, his department has called on research institutions to bid for the mammoth task.

In only 18 months the chosen institution will have to - among other things - analyse the decisions of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal since the birth of democracy in South Africa.

"The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has invited interested research institutions to submit proposals for this important task, which will not only enable us to take stock of progress made in advancing the values of the constitution, but will also assist in tackling challenges encountered in our path to the reconstruction of South African society to ensure that every citizen has equal enjoyment of the fruits of our hard-earned democracy," the department said in a statement.

According to the terms of reference - unveiled yesterday - the assessment has to include a study on direct access to these courts and the costs of litigation.

The speed at which cases are finalised will be assessed to identify "areas and reasons for delays".

The decisions of these courts should also be scrutinised to "assess the evolving jurisprudence on socioeconomic rights with a view to establishing its impact on eradicating inequality and poverty and enhancing human dignity".

Justice Department spokesman Tlali Tlali said it was decided to include the SCA in the assessment after initially indicating that only the Constitutional Court would come under the spotlight.

"We decided to include the SCA as we are focusing on the impact of the judgments of the highest courts in the land," Tlali said.

He said to ignore the SCA, where significant judgments were handed down, would "constitute a lost opportunity" and the whole exercise would be incomplete.

Tlali said there may be a further need to conduct a "similar exercise" under different terms at lower courts.

"The outcome of the research is intended to provide us with insights that will inform planning for future purposes."

When asked if judges would be questioned about their rulings during the assessment, Tlali replied: "Focus is on the judgments and not the judges."

DA MP Dene Smuts said she had not studied the terms of reference but said the inclusion of the SCA was a good move.

"There is an improvement on the proposal to date in as much as the work of both the Constitutional Court and the SCA are built into the exercise and in as much as the effect of their work on our law is part of the assessment," Smuts said.

"However, any assessment of the work of the courts on the improvement in the lives of South Africans rests on a false proposition. It rests on the idea that it is the job of the courts to improve their lives, when it is the job of the government to do so.

"And the danger of this whole exercise is that the government will try to blame the courts for its own executive ineptitude."