OFFICE OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OFFICE OF THE CHIEF JUSTICEJUSTICE

Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and

Constitutional Development7 May 2013

PRESENTATION OUTLINEPRESENTATION OUTLINE

Introduction Memorandum of Understanding Mandates Chief Justice’s Priorities OCJ Planned Activities Budget 2013/14 Budget shortfall Concluding Remarks

INTRODUCTION (1)INTRODUCTION (1)

• The Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) was proclaimed by the President of the Republic of South Africa on 23 August 2010 (2 years 8 months).

• It is mandated to provide support to the Chief Justice in his dual role as the Head of the Judiciary and the Constitutional Court, respectively.

• The SCB and the 17th CAA will add more functions to the OCJ – to be elaborated later on.

• The Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the DoJ&CD on 26/1/2011 to transfer administrative support functions relating to the JSC, SAJEI SCA and the Constitutional Court. In addition, the transfer of the Magistrates Commission & the Rules Board have been delayed due to the legislative amendments that will be required to give effect to that.

INTRODUCTION (2) INTRODUCTION (2) • The Rules Board and Magistrate Commission were mentioned

in the MoU but for later processes after legislative/consultation processes.

• Consultations were conducted iro all bodies referred to in the MoU. – • Organized labour consulted in preparation for the transfer of the

above functions

• Presentation of the organizational structure of the OCJ to lorganized abour is still outstanding

• National Treasury proposed that the administrative functions of the High Courts should also be transferred to OCJ.

• National Treasury has approved the budget programme structure on the 12 April 2013, which covers the High Courts, SAJEI and Judges Salaries as direct charge from the National Revenue Fund.

• Once the programme structure is approved and the Treasury requirements are complied with, the Budget Vote for the OCJ will be created and the SG will become the Accounting Officer for OCJ.

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE 4

MANDATES (1)MANDATES (1)Constitutional Mandate Section 165 of the Constitution vests Judicial authority on the courts. Item 16 to Schedule 6 of the Constitution provides for the rationalisation

of the courts with a view to establish a judicial system suited to the requirements of the Constitution.

Constitution Seventeenth Amendment Act, 2013 designates the Chief Justice as the Head of the Judiciary with the responsibility for the establishment of norms and standards for the exercise of functions of all courts.

Legislative Mandate South African Judicial Education Institute Act, 2008 - The Chief Justice is

the Chairperson of the SAJEI Council. SAJEI was established to provide judicial education to Judicial Officers. The responsibility for the training of Magistrates has been transferred from Justice College to SAJEI since January 2012.

Judicial Service Commission Act, 1994 – The Chief Justice is the Chairperson of the Judicial Service Commission which inter alia is responsible for the recommendation of candidates for judicial appointment and dealing with complaints lodged against Judges.

Public Finance Management Act, 1999 Public Service Act & Regulations

ANTICIPATED MANDATEANTICIPATED MANDATEConstitution 17th Amendment Act,

2013. ◦Designate the CJ as the Head of the

Judiciary◦Constitutional Court as the apex court

Superior Courts Bill◦Rationalize laws and structures of the

superior courts.◦CJ exercise responsibility over the

administration of judicial functions of all courts

◦ Judges Presidents to assume responsibility over administration and performance of all courts within each province


PRIORITIES OF THE CHIEF PRIORITIES OF THE CHIEF JUSTICEJUSTICEKey highlights of the CJ’s priorities

are:◦Development of court performance

monitoring framework ◦Development of Judicial norms and standards◦Automation of court systems – dedicated

judicial domain and e-filing system◦Regional and international judicial

administration benchmarking◦e-learning for judicial officers/soft skills

training◦Appropriate home for the Judicial Branch of

the State


2012/13 EXPENDITURE 2012/13 EXPENDITURE REPORTREPORTECONOMIC CLASSIFICATION ADJUSTE

D BUDGET

ACTUAL EXPENDI

TURE

VARIANCE

R’000 R’000 R’000 %

Compensation of employees 35 401 23 051 12 350 34.9

Goods and services 73 924 58 267 15 657 21.2

CURRENT EXPENDITURE 109 325 81 318 28 007 25.6

Payment for financial assets - 70 (70) -

TRANSFERS AND SUBSIDIES 401 7 401 98.3

Households 401 7 394 98.3

PAYMENT FOR CAPITAL ASSETS

16 477 4 676 11 801 71.6

Machinery and equipments 16 443 4 676 11 767 71.6

Software 34 - 34 100

TOTAL EXPENDITURE 126 203 86 071 40 132 31.8

2012/13 EXPENDITURE REPORT 2012/13 EXPENDITURE REPORT (Cont.)(Cont.)

The under-spending of R40.1 million (31.8 % subject to verification of accounts) is due to the following:

R12.4 million on compensation of employees as a result of delays in filling of critical positions such as:

o The Secretary-Generalo The Chief Financial Officero The Head of Risk Management and Internal Audito The Head of Information Technologyo And other administrative positions R15.7 million on goods and services as a results of:o accommodation needs/lease; IT SITA licences; SAJEI

posts; etc. R11.8 million on capital expenditure as a result of delay

in awarding ◦ IT infrastructure; office furniture incomplete by 31 March 2013.

OCJ PLANNED ACTIVITIES OCJ PLANNED ACTIVITIES (1)(1) Capacitation of the OCJ

◦ OCJ finalising Strategic Plan in line with the CJ’s priorities. Draft strategic plan prepared to be finalised at a strategic planning

session to be held later this month (May).◦ Establishment of governance structures

OCJ currently developing governance structures such as Audit, Risk Management, and IT Committees.

◦ Setting up of IT infrastructure OCJ currently relies on DOJCD infrastructure. In the process of acquiring own infrastructure.

◦ Acquiring of Office Accommodation OCJ intends resuscitating efforts to procure office accommodation,

which were abandoned due to shortage of funds.◦ Transfer of Superior Courts

OCJ considering the proposal regarding the transfer of the superior courts.

◦ Acquiring of OCJ budget vote The process is underway.

OCJ PLANNED ACTIVITIES OCJ PLANNED ACTIVITIES (2)(2)Staffing- 224 posts with125 filled posts and

99 vacancies.SMS Level

Vacant Funded

Non-Funded

Total

11 1 10 11

Below SMS Level

Vacant Funded Non-Funded

Total

88 5 83 88

OCJ PLANNED ACTIVITIES OCJ PLANNED ACTIVITIES (3)(3)These are the vacancies at SMS level:1.Chief Financial Officer -advertised twice and headhunting 2.Chief Director Court Administration3.Chief Director, Corporate Services4. Director: Internal Audit - headhunting in process5.Director: IT- advertised and selection process underway.6.Director, Judicial Relation 7.Director, Stakeholder Relationship Management8. Director, Strategy9. Director, Communication10. Director, Research11. 3 Judicial Educators (awaiting policy change)


OCJ PLANNED ACTIVITIES OCJ PLANNED ACTIVITIES (4)(4)Enhancement of Court Efficiency

Case Flow Management Project Judiciary commenced with pilot projects in three

high courts. Project to be rolled out to five other high courts.

Case File Audits Case file audits commenced in all divisions of

the High Court. Objective of the audit is identify dead files so as

to remove them from the system thereby ridding the backlog of cases from the court system.

Additional resources will be allocated to the project to ensure finalisation by year end.

OCJ PLANNED ACTIVITIES OCJ PLANNED ACTIVITIES (5)(5) Implications of the Superior Courts Bill, and

the Constitution Seventeenth Amendment Act.

◦ CAAB formalises Chief Justice as Head of Judiciary.

◦ Constitutional Court as apex court in all matters.◦ SCB provides for rationalisation of the structure

of the superior courts and for matters relating to court administration.

◦ OCJ and DOJCD will be working on the implementation of the SCB.

- Court Automation OCJ and DOJCD considering review of ICMS.

Proposed amendment of SAJEI Act of 2008◦ Proposed amendments on SAJEI aimed at giving

accountability to the Secretary-General.

OCJ PLANNNED ACTIVITIES OCJ PLANNNED ACTIVITIES (6)(6) Filling of Judicial Vacancies

◦ JSC continues to recommend candidates for judicial appointment and dealing with complaints lodged against judicial officers.

Judicial Education◦ Training of judicial officers on constitutionally

mandated legislation and other legislation◦ Soft skills and IT skills training◦ Training of Aspirant Judges ◦ Orientation of newly appointed Judges◦ Training of newly appointed Magistrates◦ E-Learning Project

Court Administration◦ Court Administration Model

OCJ finalising research on the appropriate court administration model suitable for our Judiciary.

OCJ PLANNNED ACTIVITIES OCJ PLANNNED ACTIVITIES (7)(7)Stakeholder Liaison

◦ National Efficiency Enhancement Committee (NEEC) established on 13 October 2013 by the CJ after consultation with relevant Ministers. In response to the Minister’s request for CJ on performance of the courts.

◦ NEEC comprises of all the key role-players in the Justice Cluster including the Judiciary at both levels, Attorneys and Advocates profession.

◦ NEEC objective is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the courts.

◦ Committees have been established to identify common approach to deal with common problems.

2013/14 BUDGET ALLOCATION2013/14 BUDGET ALLOCATION

BUSINESS UNITS

COMPENSATION OF EMPLOYEE

S

GOODS AND

SERVICES

CAPITAL EXPENDITURE

TOTAL ALLOCATI

ON

R’000 R’000 R’000 R’000

Constitutional Court

25 268 45 000 810 71 078

Capacitation of Chief Justice

9 366 9 400 - 18 766

Judicial Service Commission: Secretariat

1 658 6 000 100 7 758

SA Judicial Education Institute

6 805 18 769 810 26 384

TOTAL EXPENDITURE

43 097 79 169 1 720 123 986

BUDGET SHORTFALL BUDGET SHORTFALL 2013/142013/14An estimated shortfall of R80m extra required in the first year for the following:

Capacitation of OCJ (R12m) Capacitation of JP’s Offices (R5m) IT Infrastructure (R8.4m)Development of judicial monitoring system for court performance (R15m)Judicial Education (R15m)Office Accommodation and Furniture (R17.7m) Implementation of the Superior Courts Bill & Constitution 17th Amendment Act (uncosted)


CONCLUDING REMARKSCONCLUDING REMARKSAs the OCJ, we thank the Portfolio

Committee for inviting us.We look forward to future

engagements and guidance from the Portfolio Committee in order to strengthen the OCJ in its development stage.

The OCJ also aim to strengthen its relationship and cooperation with the DoJ&CD to implement transitional measures that will enable the OCJ to reach the necessary maturity levels.


THANK YOU

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OFFICE OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE