Hon Speaker and Members of Parliament, on 14 February 1995 at the opening of the Constitutional Court, former President Mandela said as follows:
The Constitutional Court is not just a building that we inaugurate, handsome though it is. It is not a body of wise men and women that we launch on their path, important though we regard their work. It is not just our blessings that we give to their work, confident as we are in their integrity and commitment to justice. It is an institution that we establish - South Africa's first Constitutional Court. Today, 17 years after this statement was made, this House will be asked to, amongst other things, change the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal. Cope cannot support the passing of this Bill, since we are of the view that there is nothing wrong with the current jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court as well as the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Appeal. The Bill, in its current form, is an unnecessary deviation from our history in this country. The question should be asked: If it is not broken, why fix it?
The problem in our justice system has nothing to do with the jurisdiction of these two courts, but it has everything to do with bad administration, ill-discipline of prosecutors, a serious lack of resources, creative lawyers, and the bad appointments of judges from the Judicial Service Commission. Just yesterday, it was reported that yet another prosecutor appeared in court for accepting a bribe to destroy a court docket. We also know of jobs in the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development that were sold and that money exchanged hands.
Former President Mandela confidently stated that:
The success of the Constitutional Court will depend in large measure on the successful functioning of the ordinary courts. Every court, from the most isolated magistrate's court to the Appeal Court in Bloemfontein, has a role to play. The letter and the spirit of the Constitution must permeate every aspect of justice in our country.
A particularly heavy responsibility rests on the Appellate Division to ensure that legislation is interpreted, and that the common law and custom are developed, in the light of the principles enunciated in the Constitution.
It can thus not follow that the change in the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal will guarantee the successful functioning of the courts. In fact, what this Parliament should hasten to address is the weaknesses in all the lower courts before we think of fixing what is not broken. We must urgently account to victims of crime why there are lengthy delays in court cases, why some cases never appear on the court roll and why certain Ministers, on not less than two occasions, indicated that they would consult with the National Prosecuting Authority to withdraw cases from court. Former President Mandela went further to say that, "South Africans did not establish this court to be another rubber stamp."
Indeed, with the extension of the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court, as proposed in this Bill, our Constitutional Court will become the new rubber stamp court. It is true that the judges of the Constitutional Court supported this Bill, but it is also true that over the years Constitutional Court judges became creative in determining what is a constitutional matter and what is not. The creativity has reached a level at which there is now confusion amongst certain legal circles as to what is a constitutional matter and what is not. Through this creativity, the Constitutional Court judges extended its jurisdiction case by case, but this creativeness does not mean that the Constitution must be changed. It simply means that we must evaluate the process that the Judicial Service Commission uses to appoint these judges.
I conclude with the words of former President Mandela when he said, "In the end you have only the Constitution and your conscience on which you can rely." Cope would not support this Bill. Thank you. [Applause.]