The Chief Justice of Namibia, sometimes also referred to as the Judge President, is the head of the

Supreme Court of Namibia The Supreme Court of Namibia is the highest court in the judicial system of Namibia. It is the court of last resort and the highest appellate court in the country. It is located in the city centre of Namibia's capital city, Windhoek. A Supreme Co ...

, the highest

appellate court A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. It is the highest post in the Namibian judicial system, presiding over the operation of the

supreme court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. The position was created on 21 March 1990, the day of Namibian independence, along with the foundation of the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice is responsible for the swearing-in of members of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

as well as the president of Namibia, and further for the safekeeping of the presidential symbols of the power (constitution, seal of state, and national flag) during the handover from one president to another. They can further request the Namibian president to appoint Acting Judges, either to fill temporary vacancies, or to supplement the jury ''ad hoc'' with experts on certain legal issues. The Chief Justice and all other judges are appointed by the

President of Namibia The president of the Republic of Namibia is the head of state and the head of government of Namibia. The president directs the executive branch of the Government of Namibia, as chair of the Cabinet and is the commander-in-chief of the armed fo ...

on the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission in which the Chief Justice is a member. Other members of this commission are the

Attorney-General of Namibia In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

, a judge appointed by the President, and two representatives of the legal fraternity.

Appointment controversy

While Namibia's constitution enshrines the independence of the

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

, appointment of judges lies in the power of the president. In 2002, the official retirement age for judges in Namibia was amended from 70 to 65. At reaching retirement age, judges including the Chief Justice can only be reappointed in acting position. This change cut short the term of Namibia's third Chief Justice Johan Strydom who became 65 in June 2003, a move that was speculated to be part of a plan to appoint a Chief Justice with close ties to

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (, SWAPO; af, Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; german: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former ind ...

, the ruling party.

List of Chief Justices

As a legacy of the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

, Justices in Namibia bear the title ''

Lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or ar ...

''. The Chief Justice is His Lordship Peter Shivute.

References

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