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Administration of justice
Role of the Department of Justice &
Constitutional Development
Government is committed to the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development’s mandate is to uphold and protect
the Constitution and the rule of law. The department
is also responsible for overseeing the
administration of justice in the interests of a safer
and more secure South Africa.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional
Development comprises six core branches – Court
Services, the Master of the High Court, Legal Advisory
Services, the Litigation Unit, the Legislative
Development Unit, and the Justice College – and
two support branches – Corporate Services and
the Office of the Director-General.
The department’s responsibilities include:
- coordinating the work of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) Cluster
- ensuring the provision of integrated court services through the establishment and maintenance of court facilities
- promoting cost-effective and quality court services
- facilitating effective case-flow management
- providing appropriate human resources (HR)
- facilitating the appointment of magistrates and judges following recommendations of the Magistrates' Commission and the Judicial Services Commission (JSC)
- facilitating the adjudication of criminal, civil and family law-related disputes.
The department facilitates constitutional development,
drafts legislation, conducts research to
support legislative development, provides legal
advisory services to other government departments,
provides litigation services to protect the
organs of state, oversees the administration of
deceased and insolvent estates and administers
the Guardian’s Fund.
The department is administratively accountable
for ensuring the independence of and support to
its entities, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and Legal Aid South Africa (previously the Legal Aid Board); and constitutional institutions such
as the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), the Public Protector, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), including the administration of
the Represented Political Parties’ Fund and the
President’s Fund.
Between 2004/05 and 2010/11, the department’s
budget was expected to increase at an
average annual rate of 13,4%, from R5,5 billion to
R11,7 billion.
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2010 FIFA World Cup™
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development signed a guarantee to FIFA, committing to ensure that all justice-related requirements for hosting the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup™ and the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ would be provided.
The 2010 FIFA World Cup™ Administration
of Justice Operational Plan was developed
by all stakeholders of the Integrated Justice System, which included the department, the NPA, Legal Aid South Africa and the judiciary.
The primary objective of the Administration of Justice Project was to fast-track all criminal matters emanating from the events and deal with these cases in a fast and efficient way, especially where foreigners were involved, either as a complainant/witness or an accused.
The plan included the elements that were required to contribute to South Africa hosting a successful World Cup. These were court infrastructure, personnel, court administration and court security.
There were 56 dedicated court rooms in the nine host cities and 37 district and 19 regional courts. The breakdown of court allocation per province was:
- Limpopo: four district and three regional courts
- Mpumalanga: three district and one regional court
- Eastern Cape: four district and two regional courts
- KwaZulu-Natal: four district and one regional court
- Western Cape: three district and one regional court
- North West: three district and one regional court
- Free State: two district and one regional court
- Northern Cape: one district and one regional court
- Gauteng: 13 district and eight regional courts.
The following number of court officials served in the dedicated courts:
- 110 magistrates
- 260 prosecutors from the NPA
- 10 legal aid attorneys from Legal Aid South Africa
- 93 foreign-language interpreters and 110 local-language interpreters
- 1 140 court officials
- 327 court orderlies from the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Through a legacy project of recruiting volunteers, a pool of about 290 unemployed youth members were trained in the accredited Customer Service Management Course. The Safety and Security Sector Education and
Training Authority funded the project with R2,2 million.
The operation period for the courts and resources took place two weeks before, during and two weeks after the tournament.
The cases were dealt with in accordance with the South African law and the Constitution.
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Judicial
system
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa,
1996 is the supreme law of the country and binds all legislative, executive and judicial organs of state at all levels of government.
In terms of Section 165 of the Constitution, the judicial authority in South Africa is vested in the courts, which are independent and subject only to the Constitution and the law. No person or organ of state may interfere with the functioning of the courts, and an order or decision of a court binds all organs of state and persons to whom it applies.
Chapter Eight of the Constitution provides for the following courts:
- Constitutional Court
- Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA)
- high courts, including any High Court of Appeal that may be established by an Act of Parliament to hear appeals from high courts
- magistrates' courts
- any other court established or recognised in terms of an Act of Parliament, including any court of a status similar to either high courts or magistrates' courts.
In line with this, Parliament has also established special income tax courts, the Labour Court and the Labour Appeal Court, the Land Claims Court, the Competition Appeal Court, the Electoral Court, divorce courts, "military courts" and equality courts.
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Crime prevention
In October 2010, Minister Radebe and five other Cabinet ministers co-signed a delivery
agreement, renewing their commitment to and strengthening their partnership in eradicating crime. The ministers promised a transparent and coordinated approach in achieving Outcome Three: All People in South Africa Are and Feel Safe.
The delivery agreement forms part of the 12 outcomes approved by Cabinet in 2010 to improve performance and service delivery.
The JCPS Cluster intends to reduce crime by between 4% and 7%. This will be achieved through improved coordinated crime intelligence; increased visible policing and crime-prevention initiatives; reducing firearms; improved strategies to arrest and charge known perpetrators; and a reduction in the number of escapes from custody.
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State Legal Services
The Office of the Chief Litigation Officer is responsible for coordinating state litigation through the offices of state attorneys countrywide.
The office ensures the reliable, cost-effective and efficient management of state litigation, advice and representation service to the State and its organs. It comprises the State Attorney, Legal Services and Civil-Litigation Unit.
Source: South Africa Yearbook 2010/11
Editor: D Burger. Government Communication and Information System [ Top ]
Last modified: 24 May 2011 09:12:39. |
