ISSN: 1996-2118
Affiliations: North-West University, Mafkeng Campus
Source: South African Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 28 Issue 2, p. 204 – 214
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ISSN: 1996-2118
Affiliations: Professor of Law, Unisa
Source: South African Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 28 Issue 2, p. 188 – 203
The impact of system variables on the accuracy and fairness of identifications made during police identification parades with reference to the latest research is considered. System variables are factors that the criminal justice system should control, such as the way witness memory is retrieved and recorded. This discussion points to certain basic principles that should ensure fair identification parades and shows how our current identification parade procedures can be improved to help guarantee a fair trial for all accused persons. It is recommended that identification parades be conducted ‘blind’, sequentially, and that all identification parades be videotaped. More effort should be made to keep multiple identifying witnesses separate, and a confidence statement must be obtained from the identifying witness directly after a specific identification is made.
ISSN: 1996-2118
Affiliations: Post-doctoral fellow at the North West University
Source: South African Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 28 Issue 2, p. 163 – 187
In order to give effect to the complementarity regime of the Rome Statute, South Africa passed the Implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Act 27 of 2002, which determines the modalities of prosecuting perpetrators of the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in South African courts. This Act also provides that South African courts will have jurisdiction over these crimes not only when they are committed on South African territory but also when they are committed outside the Republic, thus empowering South African courts to exercise ‘universal jurisdiction’ over these three international crimes. This article addresses the question as to whether South African courts, acting under the complementarity regime of the Rome Statute, are allowed, as the ICC is, to retry cases which have been already tried in foreign States if it is established that such cases were not tried in good faith and would be admissible for retrial before the ICC? In other words, does South African law allow South African courts to make a contribution in the fight against impunity for the perpetrators of international crimes by conducting a second trial of a person already tried in a foreign country?
The Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures Amendment Act, 37 of 2013 (the Act) established the long-awaited National Forensic DNA Database of South Africa in terms of section 15G of the South African Police Service Act 68 of 1995. No other criminal investigation procedure has grabbed the attention of society as much as DNA-profiling. The analysis of the Act below centres on the apparent conflicting interests of society, namely the ability of the State to use DNA for the enforcement of justice, on the one hand, and the protection of human rights and privacy of its citizens, on the other hand. As a DNA database is comprised of DNA profiles derived from biological samples, the manner of collection, storage and use of essentially sensitive personal data raises ethical, social and legal issues. This article scrutinises the Act and its ability to balance the conflicting interests between ‘crime control’ on the one hand, and, on the other hand, ‘due process’ and how these competing interests are accommodated in the regulation of the collection of DNA samples, the retention and removal of DNA samples as well as DNA profiles for the establishment of an intelligence DNA database for South Africa. In this article a rights-based approach is followed, which includes the principle of proportionality as found in South African constitutional jurisprudence, to examine the provisions of the Act and to determine whether the Act justifiably limits certain rights of the individual.
ISSN: 1996-2118
Affiliations: University of South Africa
Source: South African Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 28 Issue 1, p. 113 – 130
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ISSN: 1996-2118
Affiliations: University of KwaZulu-Natal
Source: South African Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 28 Issue 1, p. 97 – 113
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ISSN: 1996-2118
Affiliations: University of North West, Potchefstroom
Source: South African Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 28 Issue 1, p. 85 – 97
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ISSN: 1996-2118
Affiliations: University of KwaZulu-Natal
Source: South African Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 28 Issue 1, p. 73 – 84
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ISSN: 1996-2118
Affiliations: Senior Lecturer, Department of Public, Constitutional and International Law, University of South Africa
Source: South African Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 28 Issue 1, p. 59 – 72
This discussion explores the unique nature of gender-based violence and the need for courts to understand the intricacies in adjudicating these matters. The focus is on amicus curiae participation as a specific litigation strategy that could enable courts to focus on the relevant victims and their experience of violence. Specifically the amicus curiae participation in S v Zuma is considered as the matter is unique in its rejection of the relevant amici curiae participation focusing on the need and relevance of this method of participation in future criminal trials.
ISSN: 1996-2118
Affiliations: Associate Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of the Western Cape (UWC) and Research Fellow, Community Law Centre, UWC
Source: South African Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 28 Issue 1, p. 40 – 58
On 1 April 2010 the South African Child Justice Act (CJA or the Act) commenced. The long title of the Act states, inter alia, that the purpose of the Act is ‘to establish a criminal justice system for children, who are in conflict with the law and are accused of committing offences, in accordance with the values underpinning the Constitution and the international obligations of the Republic’. The Act provides, inter alia, that a child who has committed any offence may be diverted from the criminal justice system. Case law has started emerging from South African courts dealing with some of the sections of the Act. The purpose of this article is to highlight how courts have interpreted or applied some of the sections of the Act.