Congratulations to Judith who has been appointed as a Judge in the Western Cape High Court. She obtained her BA degree from the University of Cape Town in 1983 and her LLB from Rhodes University in 1985. As an articled clerk and attorney until 1994, she gained experience predominantly in the areas of civil and criminal litigation. Her main area of interest has been family law and she has distinguished herself, in particular the promotion and protection of the rights of women and children. From 1995 to October 2010, she practised exclusively in family law and related constitutional matters. Her firm hosts an annual international family law conference in conjunction with the law Faculty of the Western Cape and she has been widely published and is held in high regard by both domestic and international colleagues. She has been a member of the International Association of Youth and Family Judges and Magistrates since 2002 and was elected as the only South African member of its Council in April 2010. Ms Cloete is a distinguished member of the international Association of Youth and Family Judges and Magistrates and has attended various conferences i.e. Australia (2002), Northern Ireland (200G) and Tunisia (2010). The purpose of this Association is to promote and protect children’s rights internationally. As stated above she was elected as a member of the Council of this Association at its conference in Tunisia in April 2010, and has edited certain international judgments on child law for its publications as well as its editorial committee. Ms Cloete is also a member of the International Bar Association. She was one of sixteen attorneys selected nationally to attend the Civil Judicial Skills Training Course presented by the Law Society of South Africa in conjunction with SASSETA, during January 2010 in KwaZulu-Natal. She achieved the highest marks of all the candidates on the course. Since 25 October 2010 to date, Ms Cloete has acted as a judge in motion court (third division) where she dealt with a variety of matters i.e. default judgments, summary judgments sequestrations, Iiquidations, applications for maintenance and contributions towards costs in pending divorce matters, and unopposed or settled divorces. She has also been an acting judge in the civil division in which she has dealt with twenty civil trials and opposed motions. She has dealt with eleven criminal appeals and has presided in a lengthy criminal trial almost continuously since early April 2011.
Source: The Cape Bar