Pretoria – Inroads have been made in addressing race and gender imbalance in the country's judiciary and legal sector, but still more needs to be done.
Black judges, including Coloured and Indians, now constitute 61 percent of all judges. There is also acute under-representation of women on the bench which remains a concern. Of the judicial establishment of 239 judges, only 76 are women.
During a post State of the Nation Address briefing by the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) on Wednesday, Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Jeff Radebe said transforming the sector has been a huge task.
"We are currently looking at various ways to nourish the pool from which female judges can be appointed."
He said the finalisation of the Legal Practice Bill, which was tabled in Parliament in November 2013, will go a long way in transforming the pool and broadening the pool.
The Bill proposes the creation rationalised, single legal profession, ensuring equal access to the profession, in particularly, the previously disadvantaged persons; establishing an accountable and responsive legal profession and measures to promote access to justice for the end users of the justice system.
The legislation will bring an end to the long tradition of self-regulation by the legal fraternity and will replace bar associations with a single council.
This, some say, would erode the independence of the legal profession as it brings an end to the long tradition of self-regulation by the legal fraternity.
But Minister Radebe was adamant that government respects the independence of the judiciary and that transformation was in line with the Constitution.
Efficiency of the criminal justice system
According to the minister, the cluster has also made progress in changing the face of the criminal justice system, including the prosecution, court and case management system.
One of the most comprehensive initiative in this regard, he said, has been the introduction of the Integrated Justice System (IJS) programme, which aims to manage inter- departmental information exchange within the cluster.
With regards to the integration of departmental case related system, the cluster reported that it was now possible to deal with electronic exchanges of docket ready data at 99 police stations and 20 courts with further rollout expected.
The cluster also reported that the establishment of a single person identifier across the system is continuing as well as the establishment of a single database for the cluster for statistical purpose and the electronic exchange of management information across the cluster.
The cluster has also made inroads in increasing capacity, training and skills development.
"The Forensic Services Division has improved its human resource capacity which has lead to the speedy finalisation of cases. Despite an increase in demand, the Forensic Service Division managed to reduce related backlogs by 78%," Minister Radebe said.
Another key development reported was that the South Africa became the 57th country worldwide to pass the criminal offender DNA database legislation which will help solve and prevent crime in the country.
Case backlogs
With regards to case backlogs, there has been significant reduction through the 82 Backlog Courts. By the end of the 2013, the number of criminal case backlogs across all courts has been reduced from 34 327 cases in 2007 to 25 762 cases which is 13.8% of all outstanding cases countrywide.
The backlog countywide stands at 186 420.
Radebe said to ensure sustainability, 42 of the regional backlog courts have now been created as additional permanent courts to ensure the backlog reduction is sustained.
Access to justice
More people also now have access to justice, thanks to the 43 new courts which have been built throughout the country since 1994.
In addition, a further 24 Branch Courts have been elevated into full service courts as part of the re -demarcation of magisterial districts.
Through the project, Minister Radebe said the cluster seeks to “redress the past racially- based demarcations of the courts and to bring justice closer to the people, especially those in the rural villages and traditionally Black townships”.
The outstanding 65 branch courts, he added, are earmarked for upgrading in line with the National Development Plan. - SAnews.gov.za
