The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development is a portfolio committee of the National Assembly of South Africa. It is responsible for oversight of the agencies managed by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, including the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
The committee was established during the first post-apartheid Parliament as the Portfolio Committee on Justice, chaired for two terms by Johnny de Lange. It was renamed as the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development after the Department of Justice was renamed accordingly. Between 2014 and 2024, it oversaw an enlarged portfolio as the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services; the enlarged committee was created in a merger between the justice committee and Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services, precipitated by the corresponding ministerial merger that created the Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services.
In addition to overseeing the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the committee oversees a long list of statutory entities related to justice and law enforcement: the Council for Debt Collectors, Legal Aid South Africa, the National Prosecuting Authority, the Office of the Chief Justice, the Public Protector, the Rules Board for Courts of Law, the South African Board for Sheriffs, the South African Human Rights Commission, and the Special Investigating Unit.
List of chairpersons To date, all chairpersons of the Committee have been members of the African National Congress (ANC), the national governing party.
2024–present: Justice and Constitutional Development +Chairpersons of the Committee on Justice and Constitutional DevelopmentSessionChairpersonPartyElection dateCitation7th ParliamentXola NqolaANC9 July 2024
2014–2024: Justice and Correctional Services +Chairpersons of the Committee on Justice and Correctional ServicesSessionChairpersonPartyElection dateCitation6th ParliamentGratitude MagwanisheANC2 July 20195th ParliamentRefiloe MothapoANC9 October 2018Mathole MotshekgaANC24 June 2014
1994–2014: Justice and Constitutional Development +Chairpersons of the Committee on JusticeSessionChairpersonPartyElection dateCitation4th ParliamentLuwellyn LandersANCNovember 2010Ngoako Ramatlhodi ANC1 June 20093rd ParliamentFatima Chohan-KotaANC11 May 20042nd ParliamentJohnny de LangeANC16 August 19991st ParliamentJohnny de LangeANC1994
References
External links
Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development at Parliament of South Africa Justice and Constitutional Development at Parliamentary Monitoring Group