Talk:Constitutional Court of South Africa

Afrikaans terminology

I have removed Afrikaans terms from this page as I do not see how they add value to the English Wikipedia article. Since South Africa has nine other official languages, I also don't see that Afrikaans terms should be included without including all the others. Zaian 12:34, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

Important Judgements

The "Decision on Marriage in South Africa" section seems out of place. It is by no means the most important judgement of the Court, and quite respectfully I think they cocked up and should have declined hearing the matter until effect to the SCA judgement had been made. But thats neither here nor their.

It makes sense for a list of significant judgments to be in this article but surely they should be treated seperately?

As of January 24th 2009 the list of judges is wrong. Someone called Cameron has been appointed to the court. Please keep this list up to date! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ccarroll (talk • contribs) 09:54, 24 January 2009 (UTC)

Paul Hjul 10:04, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Term Limits

The 12 year and age 70 "mandatory retirement" requirements seem highly dubious. Some of the justices appointed by Nelson Mandela in 1994 are still active on the court (now 15 years later). Justice Madala (born 1937) was 71 years old when he announced his retirement in 2008. According to the article, he should've forced out of office one year earlier. 24.69.161.68 (talk) 23:10, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Phindiwe Sangweni

The article does not say anything about Directors of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. Should another section be added called "Directors"? This would be good for the article to make it more complete.

Thoughts?

Phindiwe Sangweni, born HRH Princess Phindiwe Rita Dlamini, is a South African Royal Family Member, Lawyer, and was the first female, first black and yougest Director of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. She served 2002-2004.

Jrcrin001 (talk) 21:16, 1 January 2011 (UTC)

Frankly, I don't think Directors are notable. The Director of the court is basically an administrative functionary without any public significance, as far as I know - there are hundreds of people with the rank of "Director" in the SA civil service (it's the third rank, below Directors-General and Chief Directors). The Phindiwe Sangweni article seems rather too promotional for my liking. - htonl (talk) 21:34, 1 January 2011 (UTC)

I agree the article on her reads more like a resume. I was working on random bio articles needing improvement. I started with references and links. It lead me around to places I would not go otherwise. Within this article, CCofSA, a brief mention of administrative functionaries "Chief Director," Director-General" and "Director" being supporters of the Court system would help remove any confusion of what any director term may be. This way anyone following the link from her or other such articles will understand the third rate position of such a "director" position would be.

As a separate thought ... I think a new category should be started: Category:Constitutional Court of South Africa Justices . This would better this article and those current and former Justices. Your choice on this.

I enjoyed our recent conversations and your honest input. Best Wishes. Jrcrin001 (talk) 22:08, 1 January 2011 (UTC)

Oh, let me explain the ranks think - "Director-General", "Chief Director" and "Director" are ranks in the whole civil service. A Director-General is the administrative officer at the top of a whole department - so there is a "Director-General of Justice" who comes under the Minister of Justice. Then there are a few Chief Directors in each department, who head the various sections of the department; so for example there is a "Chief Director of Court Services". Then, at the next level, there are Directors, of whom the "Director of the Constitutional Court" is one. But this case is special, because the judicial branch is independent of the executive and not actually part of the DoJ, so the Director basically assists with the administration of the court's practical affairs, without having much managerial control. It probably would, as you say, make sense to have a section on the structure and management of the court.

I agree about the category for ConCourt justices - I'll get on to that now. Thanks for the discussion! - htonl (talk) 22:22, 1 January 2011 (UTC)

I think it makes good sense to add such a section. And you have a good start with what you wrote above! And I learned another new thing today! Take care. Jrcrin001 (talk) 22:28, 1 January 2011 (UTC)