Judges: appointing the right person for the job

“In some countries,
we discovered that there
wasn’t really a process at all and that judges
were still selected through a ‘tap on the shoulder’
model in which someone would pretty much just
get a phone call saying, ‘You’re now a judge.’”
we did say that however applicants
are sourced, it has to be completely
transparent.”
According to Oxtoby, transparency
emerged as perhaps the most
important principle overall.
“In all these processes, transparency
is probably the single most important
way that the independence of the
judiciary can be safeguarded.”
HOME-GROWN
SOLUTIONS FOR AFRICA
The document has been extremely
well received since it was published in
October 2018, after acceptance at the
2018 SACJF annual general meeting
held in Lilongwe, Malawi.
“It is the first document of its kind
that deals with best practices for
judicial selection.
“It is truly a case of African solutions
for African problems. It is based on
regional experiences, research and
practice,” says Oxtoby.
The document is already being
used to challenge questionable
appointments in southern Africa.
And it has come to the attention of the
international community. The Council
of Europe has released a report that
quoted extensively from the Lilongwe
Principles, recommending changes to
the judicial appointments process in
Cypress.
“There has been a great deal of
enthusiasm for the document, and I
think this testifies to its usefulness.
Hopefully, it will continue to be
useful in terms of providing best
practice guidelines, more coherence
in processes regionally and possibly
influencing policy.
“If the Lilongwe Principles result in
even incremental change, that will be
very worthwhile.”
umthombo 21

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