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Judge Johann Kriegler is making a magnificent stand for the independent judicial arm of the state on exactly the grounds on which we objected to the JSC's ruling on 30 August (below). What was so galling about the ruling was that the JSC, and the JSC alone, has the competence to discipline, and if necessary, recommend the removal of judges to Parliament. If it fails to discharge its duty properly, everything ranging from unbecoming to impeachable conduct remains unresolved and potentially embedded in the Bench. Its failure properly to discharge its disciplinary duty has already begun to affect its primary function, the appointment of judges, with the withdrawal of SCA Judge Nugent and the near-withdrawal (according to Judge Kriegler) of four other candidates. It was largely at the insistence of the DP, and former leader Tony Leon in particular, that the JSC was given the task of recommending the Constitutional Court appointees. We are appalled at the way in which it has brought its own standing into question. At the time the Constitution was negotiated, the disciplinary aspect of the JSC's work was a secondary consideration for the simple reason that it could then be taken for granted that judges would behave impeccably in their personal and professional lives. Any departure from the unwritten rules of judicial ethics, let alone findings of guilt in a court of law such as that just made against Judge Motala of the North Gauteng division , would have resulted in instant resignation. Now we need codified codes of conduct. To administer and rule on these, we need a JSC that is itself beyond reproach. The JSC has strayed, and Judge Kriegler's application for review is an excellent remedy and reproach.