During the first week of Oscar Pistorius's murder trial the judge presiding over the case has come under fire for giving defence lawyers too much leeway and not protecting witnesses.
With the trial broadcast live on television, presiding judge Thokozile Masipa has not escaped the scrutiny of millions watching around the world.
Criticism has centred on Masipa permitting a fierce line of questioning from Barry Roux, Pistorius's defence lawyer known for his hectoring style of cross-examination.
He has reduced two female witnesses to tears and even read one witness's cell phone number out in court, although he later apologised.
Major South African newspapers have run articles questioning if witnesses are now less likely to come forward, for fear they may face a Roux-like buzz saw.
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But his badgering is par for the course, according to some of South Africa's legal fraternity.
"So far I have not noticed any impropriety from the side of the judge," said Mary Nel, a senior criminal law lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch.
It is crucial, according to Nel, that the judge does not appear to be taking sides by being too protective of the state witnesses.
"What we have seen so far is the cross examining of the state witnesses by the defence, the same will happen when the state gets to the defence witnesses," she said, adding that she expects the same kind of robustness.
Masipa has occasionally stepped in, but some believe she should have intervened more often.
Thea Illsley, a procedural law expert at the University of Pretoria said that the judge had at times been "decidedly leniently" with Roux.
"The judge is giving Roux leeway to paint a bigger picture of the events, to set a background and context... that is understandable," she said
Masipa, 66, the was appointed a judge in 1998, only the second black woman to be admitted to the bench at the time.
