DGRU has monitored the process of appointing judges in South Africa since 2009. We attend the public interviews conducted by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), and conduct research on the judicial track records of the candidates being interviewed. These reports are available here. We also comment on the process followed, and the criteria applied by the JSC.
We are continually evaluating the effectiveness of the reports, and will be implementing some changes to the April 2019 report, which we hope will make the output more focused. We are also developing an evaluation template to assist our analysis of the interviews. We have also been encouraged to cultivate a network of people who can provide more extensive information about candidates.
We have also made submissions to parliament and convened events to discuss issues relating to appointments. Our work on judicial appointments in South Africa has also fed into additional work on this topic in the SADC region.