Speaking at the opening of a two-day Magistrates' Conference in Johannesburg deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke said that, "The biggest threat to the judiciary's independence could come from within the judiciary itself by those who failed to uphold ethics".

At the conference, Moseneke, as well as Constitutional Court judge Albie Sachs, called on those within the judiciary to uphold ethics.

The conference, which was the the first of its kind, looked at issues pertaining to magistrates, ranging from their appointments, to accountability, training requirements, ethics, institutional governance and enhancing the efficiency of the lower courts.

Moseneke said that judges should always, and not only in the discharge of official duties, act honourably and in a manner befitting judicial office.

"That implies that all activities of a judge must be compatible with the status of a judicial office...a judge must comply with the law of the land," he said.

While not pointing out any specific members of the judiciary, Moseneke said that "with deep sadness we are constrained to admit that a few judicial officers may have attracted the impression that complying with the law is dispensable. It is, however, not right to imagine that one or perhaps two swallows make a summer. The overwhelming majority of judicial officers meticulously honour their oath to office."

Minister for Justice Brigitte Mabandla said that the conference needed to explore whether the magistracy in substance and form was truly transformed from what it was during apartheid.

"We need to ask whether there has been a change of mindset within society and the magistracy itself. We need to ask whether in reality the values enshrined in our constitution guide magistrates in their daily work," she noted.

"Judicial decisions have a profound impact on society. Decisions that are seen as unfair by citizens have a cumulative impact on making society loathe, fear, distrust the bench as it was the case in the past," Mabandla said.

"In the new South Africa people look to the bench to give meaning to the Constitution. The judiciary, broadly speaking, and the magistracy in particular because it is the coalface of the delivery of justice, have the opportunity to entrench progressive values of good citizenship," commented the Minister.

"This opportunity should not be squandered," she concluded.

The conference ended on Sunday.