Pretoria – An internal public service pool of legal and labour relations specialists will be set up to deal with the backlog of pending precautionary suspension cases in the public service.
The intervention is aimed at getting the Public Service to operate more efficiently and effectively by reducing the period for completing disciplinary processes, especially where personnel are suspended on full pay.
“This initiative ensures the proper management of discipline by institutionalising the maximum period of three months (90 days) to finalise cases,” said a statement released after Cabinet’s regular meeting.
The legal and labour relations specialists’ pool will comprise public service officials, who are experts in this field, including investigators, prosecutors and presiding officers to ensure that the full labour relations value chain is optimal.
Meanwhile, Cabinet said the transfer of functions and staff in the Superior Courts from the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to the Office of the Chief Justice affirms government’s commitment to the independence of the judiciary.
The commencement of the initial phase of the transfer comes into effect after the Constitution Seventeenth Amendment Act, 2012 and the Superior Courts Act, Act No. 10 of 2013.
The Superior Courts Act enhances the administration of the magistracy by placing magistrates in every division of the High Court under the control of the Judge President of the division concerned.
“The Act assigns powers and functions to the Office of the Chief Justice, which was established as a separate state institution equivalent to a department by a Presidential Proclamation in 2010,” Cabinet said. – SAnews.gov.za
