Brigitte Mabandla Justice

Under his leadership, the lecturing staff and the variety of training interventions that were presented, expanded considerably. An important improvement in the level of practical functional training for judicial officers occurred in 1967 when the first training intervention for regional court magistrates was presented. Dr NJ van der Merwe became Head of Justice Training on 1 November 1979 and served as such until his retirement on 30 November 1995. Up until 1981, the training of judicial officers at Justice Training focused predominantly, if not entirely, on criminal court work. In 1981, a seminar for civil court magistrates was introduced. In 1989, the appellation Justice Training was changed to Justice College. Over the years, numerous seminars were presented for judicial officers presiding in criminal and civil courts, commissioners of child welfare, aspirant regional magistrates and regional magistrates. The implementation of the Magistrates Act, 1993 (Act No 90 of 1993) on 1 October 1993 and the concomitant establishment of the Magistrates Commission of which the head of Justice College was an ex officio member, introduced a new chapter in the training of judicial officers in the magistrates’ courts. In terms of the above Act, the office of magistrate was removed from the realm of the Executive (public service) and placed under the control of the Magistrates Commission. In terms of section 4(c) of the Act, one of the explicit objects of the Magistrates Commission is to endeavour to promote the continuous training of judicial officers in the respective lower courts and to make recommendations in regard thereto to the Minister [of Justice]. In terms of regulation 3(1)(f)(i) of the Regulations for Judicial Officers in Lower Courts, 1994 (Government Notice R.361 published in Government Gazette 15524 of 11 March 1994), issued in terms of section 16 of the Magistrates Act, 1993 - no person shall be appointed as a magistrate unless he or she – has successfully completed an applicable course (the duration, content and extent of which shall be specified by the Chief of the Justice College after consultation with the [Magistrates] Commission) to the satisfaction of the Chief of the Justice College or a person designated by him [her]. Upon taking office, the Magistrates Commission officially designated Justice College as the institution responsible for continuous training of Judicial officers in the lower courts and established a training committee as provided for in section 6(1)(b) of the Magistrates Act, 1993. In addition, the Commission approved the format and syllabi for the criminal and civil components of the training programme required for appointment as a magistrate.

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Brigitte Mabandla | Justice College | Memoir