Appointments

In terms of the Act a member of the commission shall be appointed or designated for a period not exceeding five years, and any such appointment or designation may be withdrawn by the appointing or designating authority, as the case may be, at any time after consultation with the Magistrates Commission if there are sound reasons for doing so. It is important to note that any person whose period of office as a member of the Commission has expired may be reappointed or re-designated. Further, a vacancy in the Commission shall not affect the validity of decisions of the Commission.

The Magistrates Commission has five Committees which it makes use of in fulfilling its duties.

There is the Executive Committee, the Legislation Committee, the Appointment of Magistrates Committee, Grievances and Service Conditions Committee and the Ethics Committee.

It is through these five committees that the Magistrates Commission operates. Whenever these committees are given tasks, they must always give a report back to the full Magistrates Commission.

When interviews for prospective candidates are to take place, the Magistrates Commission will task the Appointment of Magistrates Committee to conduct the interviews and in turn the Appointment of Magistrates Committee will give a report back to the Magistrates Commission about the interview. It will then be the Magistrates Commission that will make a final decision on which candidates to recommend for appointment.

The process followed by the Magistrates Commission appears to be lengthy indeed, but it seems to be effective at the same time.