EASTERN Cape judge-president Themba Sangoni and National Prosecuting Authority managers in Grahamstown are at loggerheads over the appointment of judges to hear criminal trials in East London and Grahamstown.
NPA prosecutors say Sangoni is holding back on allocating judges to the criminal courts, while Sangoni says appointing judges before criminal trials are allocated would allow “forum shopping” – getting certain judges to hear certain trials.
Sangoni went on the offensive in an interview in his office attended by two other senior judges from the Grahamstown bench, saying that NPA deputy directors of public prosecutions (DDPPs) responsible for criminal rolls, Malherbe Marais and Buks Coetzee, wanted to see a list of judges allocated to the criminal courts before confirming cases.
While Sangoni expressed disquiet that provincial NPA boss Lungi Mahlati had not done enough to resolve the issue, the NPA has denied any dispute with the judge-president.
Sangoni poured scorn on prosecutors’ efforts to secure the quarterly schedule of judges before allocating criminal trials for the term, saying if the prosecutors had prior access to rolls, it could lead to forum shopping, although he did not directly accuse the DDPPs of this.
“If you say I must allow the to choose their judges as they please, I don’t think that is correct.”
And while Sangoni did not go so far as to suggest a racial bias behind the forum shopping, at least two black senior advocates in the province said this development mimics the practice of referring civil disputes to private white arbitrators to circumvent sitting black judges.
There are currently 14 black and 13 white judges sitting on the various benches of the Eastern Cape.
It was also suggested this week that internal political strife could be behind the effort to show Sangoni up.
None of the advocates polled by the Daily Dispatch would comment on the issue, although it is clear the matter has been discussed both formally by the advo profession and informally in chambers.
NPA regional spokesman Tshepo Ndwalaza issued a bald denial of a stand-off with the judge-president, despite Coetzee raising the issue during a telephone discussion with the Dispatch regarding the roll for criminal cases in East London.
The Dispatch has been aware of the fraught relationship between Sangoni and the DDPPs but the matter was formally broached by Coetzee during a discussion on the availability of criminal rolls for the media.
The Dispatch has tried unsuccessfully for two months to secure from the NPA advance notice of criminal cases set down for the circuit sessions of the high court in East London, to facilitate reporting on criminal trials
In a telephone discussion recently, Coetzee volunteered that Sangoni had refused to make judges available for criminal cases. Coetzee had not indicated at the start of the discussion that his comments were off the record nor did he withdraw them. Instead, he terminated the call and neither he nor Marais have responded to efforts to reach them directly.
Sangoni said prosecutors must provide a list of cases they want tried and the judiciary would allocate presiding officers. He said the judges’ roll was purely for the judges to know beforehand what work they were doing and where they would be sitting.
“If somebody is going to have access to the judges’ roll beforehand, is likely to line up his cases to be done by a certain judge, which is forum shopping, strictly speaking.”
Sangoni said while he was not directly charging the NPA with attempts to forum shop, this was his impression “reading between the lines”.
There are indications the standoff is likely to be raised when Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng visits Grahamstown next week, although Sangoni said he had not raised the matter directly with the chief justice as it was “not something you expect the chief justice to come and deal with”.
Black Lawyers’ Association local chairperson Camagu Maseti said he could not comment as he did not have all the facts before him. —
Legal eagles at odds over appointment of trial judges
NPA prosecutors say Sangoni is holding back on allocating judges to the criminal courts, while Sangoni says appointing judges before criminal trials are allocated would allow “forum shopping” – getting certain judges to hear certain trials.
Sangoni went on the offensive in an interview in his office attended by two other senior judges from the Grahamstown bench, saying that NPA deputy directors of public prosecutions (DDPPs) responsible for criminal rolls, Malherbe Marais and Buks Coetzee, wanted to see a list of judges allocated to the criminal courts before confirming cases.
While Sangoni expressed disquiet that provincial NPA boss Lungi Mahlati had not done enough to resolve the issue, the NPA has denied any dispute with the judge-president.
Sangoni poured scorn on prosecutors’ efforts to secure the quarterly schedule of judges before allocating criminal trials for the term, saying if the prosecutors had prior access to rolls, it could lead to forum shopping, although he did not directly accuse the DDPPs of this.
“If you say I must allow the to choose their judges as they please, I don’t think that is correct.”
And while Sangoni did not go so far as to suggest a racial bias behind the forum shopping, at least two black senior advocates in the province said this development mimics the practice of referring civil disputes to private white arbitrators to circumvent sitting black judges.
There are currently 14 black and 13 white judges sitting on the various benches of the Eastern Cape.
It was also suggested this week that internal political strife could be behind the effort to show Sangoni up.
None of the advocates polled by the Daily Dispatch would comment on the issue, although it is clear the matter has been discussed both formally by the advo profession and informally in chambers.
NPA regional spokesman Tshepo Ndwalaza issued a bald denial of a stand-off with the judge-president, despite Coetzee raising the issue during a telephone discussion with the Dispatch regarding the roll for criminal cases in East London.
The Dispatch has been aware of the fraught relationship between Sangoni and the DDPPs but the matter was formally broached by Coetzee during a discussion on the availability of criminal rolls for the media.
The Dispatch has tried unsuccessfully for two months to secure from the NPA advance notice of criminal cases set down for the circuit sessions of the high court in East London, to facilitate reporting on criminal trials
In a telephone discussion recently, Coetzee volunteered that Sangoni had refused to make judges available for criminal cases. Coetzee had not indicated at the start of the discussion that his comments were off the record nor did he withdraw them. Instead, he terminated the call and neither he nor Marais have responded to efforts to reach them directly.
Sangoni said prosecutors must provide a list of cases they want tried and the judiciary would allocate presiding officers. He said the judges’ roll was purely for the judges to know beforehand what work they were doing and where they would be sitting.
“If somebody is going to have access to the judges’ roll beforehand, is likely to line up his cases to be done by a certain judge, which is forum shopping, strictly speaking.”
Sangoni said while he was not directly charging the NPA with attempts to forum shop, this was his impression “reading between the lines”.
There are indications the standoff is likely to be raised when Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng visits Grahamstown next week, although Sangoni said he had not raised the matter directly with the chief justice as it was “not something you expect the chief justice to come and deal with”.
Black Lawyers’ Association local chairperson Camagu Maseti said he could not comment as he did not have all the facts before him. —
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos