Candidate judges face first public interviews

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) will, for the first time, conduct public interviews with candidates for vacant judgeships in the High Court on Friday.

The public interviews are aimed at promoting transparency and accountability.

The interviews will involve three shortlisted candidates – acting High Court judge Philanda Christiaan and advocates Slysken Makando and Beatrix de Jager, and proceedings will start at 09:00 in courtroom B of the High Court.

The JSC panel of five who will conduct the interviews includes chief justice Peter Shivute, judge president Petrus Damaseb, attorney general Festus Mbandeka, and two members of the legal community, advocates Zakeus Akweenda and Elias Shikongo.

"The Judicial Service Commission decided at a meeting on 15 September to amend the regulations in terms of the provisions of Article 85(3) of the Namibian Constitution to instruct that interviews of nominated candidates for judicial offices must be conducted in public," the commission's chief spokesperson, Delila Salatiel, told Namibia Media Holdings.

Reassuring the public

Lawyer Florian Beukes believes the change can strengthen public confidence in the judiciary.

"This is a big step for the transparency of the judiciary. Before, the public did not know who these candidates were, but now they know who the possible judges could be," he said.

Beukes said the public interviews will allow for better insight into the appointment of judges.

"People will be able to see that our judges are not appointed because of political motives," he noted.

Christiaan

Acting High Court judge Philanda Christiaan was Namibia's chief magistrate before she was appointed acting judge of the High Court in September this year. However, her term expires on 9 December.

She also served as an acting judge in 2016. Christiaan has been a magistrate since 2007, and was based in Keetmanshoop for a time.

In 2019, she was appointed as the chief magistrate in the Office of the Judiciary.

She obtained her law degree in 2004 from the University of Namibia.

Makando

Advocate Slysken Makando is a legal practitioner of the High and Supreme Courts of Namibia and has been practicing since 1994.

He was a public prosecutor from December 1993 to July 1994 and after his admission in August 1994 he worked as an advocate in the Office of the Attorney General.

From 1995 to 1998, Makando served as a legal adviser to the army and the defence ministry and was later appointed as the head of the advisory division of the defence ministry and all wings of the military establishment.

In 2005, Makando also worked part-time as a lecturer at the University of Namibia's training centre in relation to criminal law and court practices. Since March 2016, he has operated the Advocate SS Makando Chambers law firm.

De Jager

Beatrix de Jager is a member of the Namlex Chambers and a member of the Society of Advocates of Namibia. The association aims to uphold the interests of advocates, deal with all matters affecting the legal profession in Namibia and act if necessary through the necessary expertise.

De Jager clerked at the State Attorney's Office from March 2003 to July 2004 and was admitted as a legal practitioner on 19 July 2004. She later joined Kirsten & Co Inc until November 2008.

De Jager specialises in, among other things, the administration of wills and estates, constitutional law, human rights, banking law and arbitration.

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