Process of choosing judge sloppy, opaque

The Judiciary plays an indispensable role in this type of political system since an essential pillar of democracy is the rule of law. Political morality can never be aspired to, far less claimed, without regard to the paramount importance of the rule of law.

The legitimacy of the institutions of the legal system in a democratic system of governance is intimately intertwined with the perceived importance of the rule of law.

The latter comprises a number of principles of a formal and procedural character, which addresses the way in which a community is governed (Stanford). If we acknowledge that there are norms to which we must adhere, and which pertain to how society is governed, then the inescapable reality must be that there are commensurate procedural principles that must be adhered to with equal vigour and by which these norms are administered.

These procedural principles, if they are to be followed, require institutions such as courts and an independent judiciary that are perceived at least to be credible.

So, on the one hand, we have a prospective judge plucked out of many others like her, through a process that is as opaque as an aged cataract, by a handful of retirees who seem to have bungled the process.

On the other, those responsible for the process of selection have presented a “matrix of fact” through which they attempt to convince the citizen that it is the “product” that is tainted while the process was impeccable.

Citizens recognise clearly that the process was inherently and patently sloppy and find it difficult to internalise the nature of the defect ascribed to the product. After all, in the specific circumstance, it is akin to being presented with an automobile that has no wheels.

And the Prime Minister, whose quintessential concern ought to be the nurturing of Aristotle’s “good citizen,” shrugs off the debacle with stultifying indifference by simply telling the nation that “the Government will have no probe?” That is the type of arrogance that emanates from a head that knows nothing of governance but everything about power for its sake.

STEVE SMITH via email