Independence of judiciary must be protected: Ngcobo
Retired Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo says the independence of the judiciary must be protected at all costs.
Ngcobo was speaking at the International Conference on Military law in Pretoria and says courts and judges must resist any form of influence, be it political or from business interests.
He also says seems that South Africans have a lot less faith in the lower courts.
"The question of independent focus is on the status of a tribunal and extends beyond the subjective attitude of the decision maker. What is required is that the status of a tribunal must guarantee not only its freedom from interference by the political branches of government, but also by any other external force such as business and corporate interests," says Ngcobo.
Ngcobo says it is generally accepted that there are two dimensions to the issue of independence.
"There is the individual dimension and there is the institutional dimension. The individual dimension refers to the independence of a judge and it is reflected generally in matters such as security of tenure," he says.