Judicial Capacity in a Transforming Legal System

Abstract

Given the perennial problem of lack of access to justice; the fact that there was no shortage of superior court judges until 1994; the demands on court process which flow directly from transition to the constitutional democratic system; and the urgent and justified necessity for the demographic transformation of judicial personnel, two challenges to the capacity of the judicial system present themselves in South Africa: Enlarging the number of suitable candidates for judicial appointment to redress the former demographic imbalance; and developing the kind of skills among those appointed as judges to be able to respond with confidence across a wide range of often complex legal issues; and developing a theory of judicial deference which observes the separation of powers and preserves judicial independence. This paper explores these challenges, after setting out the socio-political context, as it impacts directly on their nature and scope, and the prospects of meeting them.Debido al constante problema de la falta de acceso a la justicia, al hecho de que no hubo escasez de jueces de tribunales superiores hasta 1994, las demandas del proceso judicial que surgen directamente de la transici&oacute;n al sistema democr&aacute;tico constitucional, y la necesidad urgente y justificada de la transformaci&oacute;n demogr&aacute;fica del personal judicial, el rendimiento judicial en Sud&aacute;frica se encuentra con dos desaf&iacute;os: Aumentar el n&uacute;mero de candidatos aptos al nombramiento judicial para compensar el anterior desequilibrio demogr&aacute;fico y desarrollar en los jueces nombrados aquellas habilidades que les permitan responder con confianza a asuntos jur&iacute;dicos a menudo complejos; y desarrollar una teor&iacute;a de deferencia judicial que respete la separaci&oacute;n de poderes y preserve la independencia judicial. Este art&iacute;culo explora estos desaf&iacute;os tras explicar el contexto sociopol&iacute;tico, ya que &eacute;ste afecta directamente a su naturaleza y alcance, y las probabilidades de que se superen.DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3039518</p