The media and the judiciary are partners for "open justice", Constitutional Court Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo said in a statement on Sunday.

The statement followed an address he made at a gathering of the South African National Editor's Forum (Sanef) in Cape Town on Saturday.

"Both [the media and judiciary] have a vital role in the improvement of access to justice. The principle that brings them together is the principle of open justice," Ngcobo told the Sanef gathering.

"Through this principle, the media helps to give effect to important constitutional values such as the accountability of the judiciary, access to the justice system, and judicial independence.

"Ngcobo said that he has made "open justice" a policy from the start of his tenure as Chief Justice.

He said that this policy would seek to address challenges within the judiciary such as accessibility, efficiency and public confidence with the courts.

As part of this, administration within his office was being improved and a new section would be established to deal with the media as well as the public at large, said Ngcobo.

"Open justice is the principle that the doors of all the courts in the nation must be open to the public and the press," he said.

Ngcobo added that the principle was one which existed in Africa for centuries and was present in his childhood upbringing.

"It is deeply rooted in African tradition. In African societies, justice was administered in the open in the literal sense of the word.

"Members of the community were allowed to attend the proceedings. Secret trials were foreign to traditional justice," said Ngcobo.

As part of providing access to courts, the media was also responsible for interpreting complicated legal proceedings for the public.

"Court reporters are translators. They have the unenviable task of making court proceedings and judgments intelligible to the general public," said Ngcobo.

"People are just as distrustful of that which they cannot understand as they are of that which they are unable to observe."

Despite his praise, Ngcobo also had measured criticism of the media.

He warned that media reports had an "irrevocable power".

"Even on those rare occasions when the media oversteps the permissible bounds of reporting and must retract a questionable report, it is generally too late," he said.

Ngcobo said that media could also better serve the public by reporting larger legal issues and less coverage of violent crime.

"Legal reporting all too often focuses on the vivid dramas of crime and punishment that capture the imagination of the country. Unfortunately, many legal issues of much greater impact are not quite as exciting," he said.

But Ngcobo added to his critique by pointing out that judges could do better when it came to publicising the basis and implications of their judgments.

The theme of a partnership between the media and judiciary was a recurring one in the Chief Justice's speech.

In his conclusion, Ngcobo called the two, "vital pillars" of South Africa's constitutional democracy.

"The media and the judiciary are two of the most vital pillars supporting our constitutional democracy. These two institutions are inextricably connected. They depend on each other. Indeed, without the other, each would be unable to perform its crucial function in our constitutional democracy," Ngcobo said.

He said that the media depended on the judiciary to safeguard the exercise of a free press without which "dark curtains might quickly be drawn over crucial sources of information".

Likewise, the judiciary, because it does not have the means to implement its judgments, needed the help of the media to convince the other branches of government to take heed.

"We in the judiciary need the media to treat us with respect, and through responsible and honest reporting, to offer us the protection and support necessary to safeguard our independence," said Ngcobo.

He called for further dialogue between the judiciary and the media.

"Like all dialogues, there will be joyous moments and breakthroughs of understanding. At other times, the dialogue will be fraught with tension. This is how it should be, and must be," warned Ngcobo.

"What is essential, however, is that both sides respect each other, and that frank dialogue never devolves into acrimonious dispute. The fate of our young constitutional democracy might well depend on it," he said.