Maya-led Judicial Conduct Committee dismisses 'baseless' bribe claims against Unterhalter

The Judicial Service Commission's (JSC) Judicial Conduct Committee, led by Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Maya, has found there was "no basis" to a litigant’s bribery claims against Judge David Unterhalter – and stressed it was "not acceptable" to make such unfounded claims.

"To make this kind of accusation against [Unterhalter] with absolutely no basis is seriously harmful both to him and the judiciary. It must be deprecated strongly. Of course, complaints should be lodged to the JCC [Judicial Conduct Committee] for judges’ breach of the Judicial Code of Conduct. It is, however, not acceptable to lay unfounded claims against judges," the JCC stated.  

Unterhalter had been asked about the complaint laid against him by Eric Achuko in relation to an alleged February 2023 "bribe email" when he was interviewed for a vacancy on the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) earlier this year.