This week, the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) announced the shortlisted candidates for positions in the Constitutional Court (Concourt) and the Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa – and all of them are women.
Two of the four judges nominated for the Concourt, Judge Theron and Judge Pillay, were endorsed by Sonke Gender Justice and our partner CALS (Coalition of African Lesbians).
As Business Day reports, the fact that all four nominees for the Concourt are women means that when one is appointed, the court moves one step closer to closing a very significant gender gap, since currently “only two of its 10 judges are women: Justices Bess Nkabinde and Sisi Khampepe.” Even after this appointment, if one of the four women nominated are assigned, then only three of the 11 Concourt judges will be women.
According to News24, the JSC says that, “the organised legal profession, institutions with an interest in the work of the JSC and interested persons are requested to submit comments on the above-mentioned candidates to the secretariat of the JSC by no later than 22 June 2015.”
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Judge-candidates-announced-and-theyre-all-women-20150610
– Czerina Patel
