Objections from the legal community has seen the Superior Courts Bill and its parallel amendment to the constitution shelved.
Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla has indicated that it will be another year before the bills are re-tabled in Parliament.
Issues in the bills concerning administrative control of the courts, the making of rules of court and other issues have been slammed for invading the constitutional independence of the judiciary.
Addressing Parliament’s justice committee, along with the president of the Supreme Court of Appeal, Craig Howie, and Deputy
Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke, Langa urged that there should be no delay in enacting provisions that improved access to justice for ordinary South Africans.
He said the controversial bits of the legislation should stand over but the rest should go ahead.
Langa’s reference to the suspended laws, his most direct in recent months, is a clear indication that the points of conflict between the judiciary and government will not be easily resolved.
Part of what Langa was talking about was the creation of a seat of the high court in each of the provinces. Some of the provinces are still without divisions of the high court and many of the existing divisions still have the names they enjoyed before 1994.
“Enact those areas where there is agreement,” Langa said adding that it was “painful” that people still had to travel across provincial boundaries to access courts.
He also made reference to the amendments to the Judicial Service Commission Act that would provide measure to regulate the conduct of judges and set up a complaints procedure.
The absence of these measures were highlighted by the complaints that were brought against Cape Judge President John Hlophe. “It is obvious that measures should be put in place to regulate the conduct of judges”.
Deputy Justice Minister Johnny de Lange upped the ante on the debate this week when he argued that if the issue of payment for work done after retirement was raised, the judges should also debate the current payment of a full salary to judges for the rest of their lives.
