Chief Justice’s tenure extended

PRESIDENT Sam Nujoma has extended the term of office of Acting Chief Justice Johan Strydom until the end of September.

In perhaps the clearest sign yet that the era of Strydom’s leadership of the Namibian judiciary may be drawing to a close, it was announced from the chambers of the Chief Justice last week that the President had extended his term for only another three months at this stage. Members of the Judicial Service Commission, which has the constitutional task to recommend the appointment of judges to the President, declined to comment on the reasoning behind the three-month extension of the Acting Chief Justice’s tenure when they were contacted last week.Yesterday, Justice Minister Albert Kawana, to whose office written enquiries in the same regard had been sent a week ago, likewise declined to comment, asking to be contacted again on the topic next week.Acting Chief Justice Strydom has been heading Namibia’s judiciary in an acting capacity since the middle of last year, having reached the retirement age for judges in Namibia, which is 65 years of age, on June 17 2003.In terms of the Constitution and the Supreme Court Act – after the latter and the High Court Act were amended in 2002 to lower Judges’ retirement age from 70 to 65 – Judges in Namibia retire at the age of 65.However, according to the Constitution, the President also has the power to extend the retirement age of any judge to 70.As the longest-serving judge currently in Namibia’s judiciary, Acting Chief Justice Strydom has been seen in legal circles as a steady hand and roundly trusted figure of stability in the country’s judicial system.He was first appointed as a judge in the High Court in 1983, became independent Namibia’s first Judge President in March 1990, and in March 1999 moved into the top post in Namibia’s judiciary with his appointment as the country’s third Chief Justice since Independence.Members of the Judicial Service Commission, which has the constitutional task to recommend the appointment of judges to the President, declined to comment on the reasoning behind the three-month extension of the Acting Chief Justice’s tenure when they were contacted last week.Yesterday, Justice Minister Albert Kawana, to whose office written enquiries in the same regard had been sent a week ago, likewise declined to comment, asking to be contacted again on the topic next week.Acting Chief Justice Strydom has been heading Namibia’s judiciary in an acting capacity since the middle of last year, having reached the retirement age for judges in Namibia, which is 65 years of age, on June 17 2003.In terms of the Constitution and the Supreme Court Act – after the latter and the High Court Act were amended in 2002 to lower Judges’ retirement age from 70 to 65 – Judges in Namibia retire at the age of 65.However, according to the Constitution, the President also has the power to extend the retirement age of any judge to 70.As the longest-serving judge currently in Namibia’s judiciary, Acting Chief Justice Strydom has been seen in legal circles as a steady hand and roundly trusted figure of stability in the country’s judicial system.He was first appointed as a judge in the High Court in 1983, became independent Namibia’s first Judge President in March 1990, and in March 1999 moved into the top post in Namibia’s judiciary with his appointment as the country’s third Chief Justice since Independence.