There are two different ways to look at the fact that the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has seen a dramatic collapse in its ability to process misconduct complaints against judges, with unresolved cases ballooning to unprecedented levels over the past four years. Firstly, one might say the mere fact that people are coming forward to lodge complaints about high judicial officials means they have confidence in our judicial system. That, in turn, means our courts can still be trusted to be one of society’s important safety nets, which protect us against government over-reach.
However, in concert with the rise in the time it takes to deal with individual complaints, there has also been an increase in the number of those complaints, with the 132 received in 2024/25 being the highest in four years. That could indicate some of our judges are far from perfect, which, in turn, could lead to a significant decline in confidence in the whole system. That, it goes without saying, is worrying because the courts are one of the foundational pillars of our democracy.
Most complaints lodged in 2024/25 relate to alleged breaches of the Code of Judicial Conduct, including failures of diligence, fair trial obligations, honourable conduct and equality. These are serious allegations and need to be dealt with quickly. Helen Suzman Foundation senior researcher Chanel van der Linde said: “Public trust in the judiciary and, ultimately, in the rule of law, depends on confidence that judicial misconduct will be dealt with promptly and decisively.” She pointed out that the judiciary’s functions are under significant strain, including heavy caseloads and persistent backlogs.
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These pressures, according to Van der Linde, may act as catalysts for irregular judicial conduct. And the JSC is staffed by permanent judges who already carry full judicial workloads.
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