Page:Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1993 from Government Gazette.djvu/35

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Act No. 200, 1993

Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1993

(3) Any judge shall, before commencing to perform the functions of his or her office, make and subscribe an oath or solemn affirmation in the terms set out in Schedule 3 before any other judge.

(4) A judge may only be removed from office by the President on the grounds of misbehaviour, incapacity or incompetence established by the Judicial Service Commission and upon receipt of an address from both the National Assembly and the Senate praying for such removal.

(5) A judge who is the subject of an investigation by the Judicial Service Commission in terms of subsection (4) may be suspended by the President pending such investigation.

Judicial Service Commission

105. (1) There shall be a Judicial Service Commission, which shall, subject to subsection (3), consist of—

(a)

the Chief Justice, who shall preside at meetings of the Commission;

(b)

the President of the Constitutional Court;

(c)

one Judge President designated by the Judges President;

(d)

the Minister responsible for the administration of justice or his or her nominee;

(e)

two practising advocates designated by the advocates’ profession;

(f)

two practising attorneys designated by the attorneys’ profession;

(g)

one professor of law designated by the deans of all the law faculties at South African universities;

(h)

four senators designated en bloc by the Senate by resolution adopted by a majority of at least two-thirds of all its members;

(i)

four persons, two of whom shall be practising attorneys or advocates, who shall be designated by the President in consultation with the Cabinet;

(j)

on the occasion of the consideration of matters specifically relating to a provincial division of the Supreme Court, the Judge President of the relevant division and the Premier of the relevant province.

(2) The functions of the Judicial Service Commission shall be—

(a)

to make recommendations regarding the appointment, removal from office, term of office and tenure of judges of the Supreme Court in terms of section 104;

(b)

to make recommendations regarding the removal from office of judges of the Constitutional Court in terms of section 104(4); and

(c)

to advise the national and provincial governments on all matters relating to the judiciary and the administration of justice.

(3) When the Commission performs its functions in terms of subsection (2)(c) it shall sit without the four senators referred to in subsection (1)(h).

(4) The Commission shall determine its own procedure, provided that the support of at least an ordinary majority of all its members shall be required for its decisions.

(5) The Commission may appoint committees from among its number and assign any of its powers and functions to such committee.

Seats of Constitutional Court and Appellate Division

106. (1) The seat of the Constitutional Court shall be Johannesburg.

(2) The seat of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court shall be Bloemfontein.

Languages

107. (1) A party to litigation, an accused person and a witness may, during the proceedings of a court, use the South African language of his or her choice, and may require such proceedings of a court in which he or she is involved to be interpreted in a language understood by him or her.