UCT-SDG-Report-Draft06 - high - Flipbook - Page 43
Democratic Governance and
Rights Unit
The Democratic Governance and Rights Unit (DGRU)
works towards achieving access to justice and fair,
accountable, independent, and transparent judiciaries
and justice systems in Africa. This is done through three
main pillars of work: research and advocacy; ongoing
professional development of judges; and free access to
the law.
Judicial Institute for Africa
Ongoing professional development for judges is essential
to ensure that they remain competent, ethical, up to
date with legal and societal developments, and capable
of making fair and informed decisions. It ultimately
strengthens the legal system and upholds the rule of
law. The Judicial Institute for Africa has been providing
UCT-certified short courses to judges across Africa since
2016. The courses are developed by judges supported by
academic and other experts.
In the 2022 short courses
provided to judges across
Africa by the Judicial
Institute for Africa:
1 200 judges completed short courses
150 judges were trained
Judges Matter: monitoring of the
judiciary in South Africa
Judges Matter is a unit within the DGRU committed to
fostering transparency, accountability and excellence
within South Africa’s judiciary. Part of their work involves
building public awareness of judicial appointments. They
do this though publishing profiles of judicial candidates
and making public the processes of the Judicial Services
Commission (JSC), which appoints judges in SA.
Other activities undertaken
by Judges Matter:
Monitoring judicial conduct tribunals
Researching the appointment process for acting
judges
Examining the criteria used by the Judicial
Service Commission (JSC) to nominate
candidates
Scrutinising magistracy governance, and
investigating judiciary-related statistics
Sustainability and the SDGs 2022 – 43
