Where to complain about a magistrate?
Where can a magistrate be held accountable?
Cases of women feeling they have been treated unfairly in court have brought up questions about where a magistrate can be held accountable and if he or she does indeed have the final say.
Christo Swart, head of the Law Faculty at the Southern Business School, said lawyers and magistrates fall under two different bodies.
“Lawyers are employed in the private sector and magistrates are employed by the state,” he said.
You can lodge a complaint against a magistrate at the Magistrate’s Commission.
“Any conduct by a magistrate that is alleged to be improper may be reported at the judicial head of the court (a regional court president or chief magistrate) wherein the magistrate concerned presides. The matter then will be forwarded to the Magistrate’s Commission; the body that is tasked with investigating and conducting disciplinary hearings on matters involving magistrates,” the commission’s website reads.
The Magistrate’s Commission can be contacted on 012 325 3951 or at dschoeman@justice.gov.za.
The commission, however, does prefer people to try and solve the matter themselves before lodging a complaint.
Try speaking to the official involved or if that does not help, write to the person in charge of the official.
Read more:
‘Beskerm die hof ons kinders?’
Vrouemishandeling: was die hof regverdig?
