A court that never smiles is a court that is already tired. This page is for you. Tick, scribble, tear it out, send a photo of your answers to president@judicialalliance.org. We will print the best (anonymous) lines in Issue 04.
You know you sit in a Magistrates’ Court when…
☐ You have explained “adjourned” in three languages before tea.
☐ The recording machine has a personality, and today it is in a mood.
☐ A prosecutor, an attorney and a traditional leader are all waiting for the same five minutes.
☐ Your reserved-judgment list has started appearing in your dreams, alphabetically.
☐ You can tell the time by the length of the queue at Court 1.
Write your own: ________________________________________________
The little law quiz — answers live on page 10
1. Which section vests judicial authority in the courts and tells organs of state to protect them? ☐ s165 ☐ s174 ☐ s33
2. Which case is the leading authority that magistrates are judicial officers? ☐ Makwanyane ☐ Van Rooyen ☐ Glenister II
3. The recusal test of the “reasonable apprehension of bias” comes from ☐ SARFU ☐ Dodo ☐ Certification
4. A High Court judge’s gazetted 2025 package is about ☐ R1.2m ☐ R2.2m ☐ R3.3m
5. Muslim burial rights in this issue sit under ☐ s15 and s31 ☐ s25 only ☐ s34 only
6. True or false: retirement ends a Magistrates’ Commission complaint. ☐ True ☐ False
What would you do?
A junior colleague has gone quiet. Their reserved judgments are slipping. They laugh too loudly at lunch and then go silent. You are not the head of office. Circle one, then write two lines.
A. Leave it. They will bounce. B. Mention it to a third person “in confidence”. C. Ask them, once, off the record, whether they want tea and a walk. D. Something else: ______________________________
Your two lines:
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Word hunt — circle eight
JASA KARIKAN BENCH UBUNTU SECTION VANROOYEN TEA COVENANT
C O V E N A N T Q B E N C H
K A R I K A N X U B U N T U
T E A L M J A S A P Q R S T V A N R O O Y E N S E C T I O N W X Y Z A B C D E F G H