982 THE FEDERATIONS AND THE UNION [PART IV 
on the ignorance of the members of the Judicial Committee 
of Roman-Dutch law will be obviated. It is, however, a 
question which is not quite clear how far the words of the 
Bill are adequate to produce this effect, as the prerogative 
is not very explicitly barred except perhaps as regards the 
Supreme Court itself. 
The judges of the Supreme Court will in future be appointed 
by the Governor-General in Council, and will have salaries 
which cannot be reduced during their tenure of office. They 
can only be removed from office by the Governor-General 
in Council on an address from both Houses of Parliament in 
the same session praying for such removal on the ground of 
misbehaviour or incapacity. 
The existing judges of the Colonial Courts are all continued 
in their posts in the corresponding divisions of the Supreme 
Court, the Chief Justices becoming Judges President but 
retaining their titles for the rest of their term of office, and 
the pensions and salaries to which at present they are entitled 
are ensured to them. Lord de Villiers became Chief Justice 
of South Africa. In the case of an occurrence of a vacancy 
in the divisions of the Supreme Court, the Governor-General 
in Council, if he considers that the number of judges may 
advantageously be reduced, may refrain from filling up the 
vacancy pending the decision of Parliament. No doubt in 
due course advantage will be taken of this provision to 
reduce the numbers of judges in South Africa. 
The appellate division shall be composed of the full five 
members in the case of an appeal from any Court composed 
of two or more judges; if the appeal is from a decision of 
a single judge, three members of the division will be a quorum, 
and no judge shall take part in the hearing of an appeal from 
a decision of his own. The Court will normally sit in Bloem- 
fontein, but may from time to time, for the convenience of 
suitors, hold its sittings at other places in the Union. This 
provision (s. 109) is a concession to the Orange River Colony, 
which of course will be the seat of neither the administrative 
nor the legislative capital of the Union. The Chief J ustice 
! se 100. 101