Hlophe pulls appeal
Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:00
Cape Judge President John Hlophe will withdraw his appeal to the
Constitutional Court over an alleged violation of his rights, one
of his lawyers said on Monday.
Hlophe's lawyer dealing with that matter, Lister Nuku, was not
immediately available to comment, but Barnabas Xulu, who also
represents him, confirmed it.
"He was cleared and he is of the view that the matter must come to an end," said Xulu after speaking to Hlophe.
The matter came about when the judges of the court complained to
the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) about an approach Hlophe made
while they were deciding a case relating to President Jacob Zuma.
Hlophe lodged a counter-complaint that the judges had violated
his rights by making the complaint public before letting him answer
to it.
The matter had already been through the Supreme Court of Appeal
and was set down for November 17 in the Constitutional Court.
The JSC subsequently cleared him of the complaint and he went on
to be interviewed for a post at the Constitutional Court, which he
did not get.
If the matter had gone to the Constitutional Court, the judges
would probably have had to recuse themselves as most were involved
in the original complaint.
A court official said to take the matter off the roll, Hlophe
had to file a notice of withdrawal to formalise his intention.