Law Society again challenges procedure over traffic fine arrests

Motorists, especially in Johannesburg, are being arrested or held illegally for outstanding traffic fines at police roadblocks, says Johan Gresse of the Law Society of the Northern Provinces in a Business Day report. ‘There has been an increase in the number of arrests for outstanding traffic fines with metro police adopting whatever method they feel fit, like throwing drivers in a bus for hours while the officer continues his work before they are driven to court,’ he said. Gresse has been involved in the past three years with a campaign launched by the Law Society of SA to make the public aware of their rights and to provide them with legal assistance. Johannesburg’s Metro police are continuing with the arrests despite civil charges being successfully laid against police who fail to follow procedure when arresting drivers at roadblocks. This is illegal, according to motor law expert Don Smart, who deals with about 1 300 complaints of this nature a year. ‘The Johannesburg Metro police blatantly ignore the law and the Constitution, they do not follow proper summons and warrant procedures,’ he is quoted as saying.
Full Business Day report  

 

Supplied courtesy of Legalbrief Today.

 

 

 

New strategy to fight rape

A national strategy aimed at fighting the scourge of r ape is to be piloted in at least three provinces by June next year, says a report on the IoL site. Advocate Thoko Majokweni, head of the National Prosecuting Authority's s exual offences and community affairs unit, says the inter-departmental strategy will develop a tri-pillar plan, focusing on prevention, responses and support interventions. ‘All of them have to respond on different packages of information. One of the key things for prevention is to determine why offenders offend and why victims are victimised. The reasons why people r ape, be they children or adults.’ Gaps in the criminal justice system also need to be identified, as well as what specific support r ape survivors need, such as anti-retrovirals, as opposed to other victims of crime. Research shows that in 2000, more than 52 000 cases of r ape and attempted r ape were reported, of which only 27% were prosecuted.
Full report on the IoL site

 

Supplied courtesy of Legalbrief Today.

 

Magistrate redefines common law on rape

An SABC News report says the Lydenberg Magistrates’ Court in Mpumalanga has made a ground-breaking judgment set to re-define SA common law on rape. Passing judgment after 44-year-old Faniel Masiya was found guilty of anal rape of a nine-year-old girl, Magistrate Andries Lamprecht said common law on s exual abuse cases was irrational and unconstitutional. According to common law, a person found guilty of anal rape can only be charged for indecent assault. Lamprecht forwarded the case to the High Court for sentencing. He hoped the judgment would put pressure on Parliament to pass the new Sexual Offences Bill, which lists forced anal penetration as rape.
Full SABC News report

 

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Rape ruling develops principles of vicarious liability

Writing in the Mail & Guardian Online, Women’s Legal Centre attorney, Hayley Galgut, comments that the recent Constitutional Court decision in the matter of a woman gang-r aped by on-duty policemen has emphasised the court’s view that ‘few things can be more important to women than freedom from the threat of sexual violence’. The court made this finding while holding that the Minister of Safety and Security was vicariously liable for damages arising from a lawsuit instituted by the r ape survivor. The court held further that the principles of vicarious liability and its application needed to be developed to accord more fully with the spirit, purport and objects of the Constitution. This conclusion implies that the courts will decide whether a case before it is of the kind that in principle should render the employer liable.
Full report in Mail & Guardian Online (subscribers only)

 

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Fathers-4-Justice forms SA chapter

A SA branch of the British founded Fathers-4-Justice (F4J), a civil rights organisation campaigning for children's rights to see both parents and grandparents after a divorce, has been formed. Dr Steven Pretorius the founder of F4J in SA, said the organisation's main goal was to raise awareness of the plight of many parents – mainly fathers who had restricted or no access to their children, reports the Pretoria News. F4J has a lawyer, a former criminal advocate, a social worker and a psychologist on its team. Pretorius said one of the SA chapter of F4J's main goals would be to try to have unfair, punitive laws revisited. In 1998, the Child Care Act was reviewed by judges, who recommended some changes, including shared parenting after divorce. These recommendations have largely been ignored in the drafting of the changes to the Children's Bill, which is before Parliament. ‘We are hoping to lobby a change in the law for the benefit of our children,’ Pretorius said.
Full report in Pretoria News