The flaws in South Africa's criminal justice system need to be fixed "yesterday", Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Johnny de Lange said on Wednesday. "We need to do this in the shortest possible time. In fact, yesterday," he told reporters in Pretoria.
De Lange said such a review will reward the country with swift, equitable and fair justice in criminal matters. A key shortcoming at the moment is that the system is being managed by different departments what have no authority over each other. "Police, driven by targets, send dockets to court; prosecutors, also driven by targets, bargain with the perpetrators when they see that the case will take them longer," he said. This is counter-productive and no one, including opposition parties, has picked it up. In the reviewed system a top detective and a prosecutor will work together to screen dockets to ensure that only trial-ready dockets are put on court rolls.
In November last year, Cabinet approved a target of seven fundamental changes aimed at achieving a dynamic and coordinated criminal justice system. The seven-point plan envisages a criminal justice system with a single set of objectives, priorities and performance measurement targets. He said the new process will ensure that courts are focused on trials, rather than administrative functions. "The outcome of these changes will be a reduction of case cycle and the number of hearings per case," he said.
A major change will be that witnesses will only be subpoenaed to appear in court once a trial has started. In the current system they have to be in court even though the case is not ready for trial. He said a number of initiatives have been identified and some of these are being tested in pilot sites or are awaiting infrastructure before they can be fully implemented. "The outcome of these will be seen over a period of time," he said.
De Lange pointed out that the review of the criminal justice system started before the discussion on the future of the Scorpions. "The Scorpion issue is a parliamentary matter, which I can not comment on," he said.
Showing posts with label Johnny De Lange. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Johnny De Lange. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
Ngcuka calls for stricter asset forfeiture laws
National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka yesterday appealed to MPs to beef up legislation governing asset forfeitures. This followed a high court order won by controversial Businessperson Billy Rautenbach last year for the release of more than R40-million worth of assets seized by the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU).
The ruling, by Johannesburg High Court Judge Pierre Rabie, had allowed Rautenbach to take the assets out of the country, to Zimbabwe, despite the government appealing against the decision, Ngcuka told Parliament's justice portfolio committee. "We would like the legislature to give consideration to this. "How can people use the legal system to protect their rights, but then don't want to submit to the jurisdiction of our courts," he said.
The AFU, three years ago, seized Rautenbach's assets, including a luxury home in Sandhurst, Johannesburg, a farm in Paarl, aircrafts, a yacht, as well as various bank accounts. The former Hyundai boss in South Africa had been charged with large-scale fraud, theft, money laundering and evasion of import duties. Ngcuka said he hoped the committee would look into the case and strengthen the law to ensure those accused could not flee with their assets, even though cases were still subject to appeal.
Johnny de Lange, the committee's chairman, said this should not be allowed to happen again. "It is absolutely flabbergasting that a judge can allow that to happen," he said. Ngcuka also said his office was putting in place a system to dramatically cut down on the number of criminal cases withdrawn before the courts. The frequency of suspects being arrested and the cases never coming to court, despite being placed on the court roll, was a source of serious concern. This was particularly the case when arrests were made over a weekend and cases put onto the roll on Monday morning, despite there being no chance of conviction.
Prosecutors were now visiting police stations on Sundays to screen dockets before they were placed on the roll, and only in exceptional instances would a suspect be taken to court before a final decision was taken to prosecute. The new policy would also help ensure against innocent persons being arrested, and detained, he said.
Source: Polity
The ruling, by Johannesburg High Court Judge Pierre Rabie, had allowed Rautenbach to take the assets out of the country, to Zimbabwe, despite the government appealing against the decision, Ngcuka told Parliament's justice portfolio committee. "We would like the legislature to give consideration to this. "How can people use the legal system to protect their rights, but then don't want to submit to the jurisdiction of our courts," he said.
The AFU, three years ago, seized Rautenbach's assets, including a luxury home in Sandhurst, Johannesburg, a farm in Paarl, aircrafts, a yacht, as well as various bank accounts. The former Hyundai boss in South Africa had been charged with large-scale fraud, theft, money laundering and evasion of import duties. Ngcuka said he hoped the committee would look into the case and strengthen the law to ensure those accused could not flee with their assets, even though cases were still subject to appeal.
Johnny de Lange, the committee's chairman, said this should not be allowed to happen again. "It is absolutely flabbergasting that a judge can allow that to happen," he said. Ngcuka also said his office was putting in place a system to dramatically cut down on the number of criminal cases withdrawn before the courts. The frequency of suspects being arrested and the cases never coming to court, despite being placed on the court roll, was a source of serious concern. This was particularly the case when arrests were made over a weekend and cases put onto the roll on Monday morning, despite there being no chance of conviction.
Prosecutors were now visiting police stations on Sundays to screen dockets before they were placed on the roll, and only in exceptional instances would a suspect be taken to court before a final decision was taken to prosecute. The new policy would also help ensure against innocent persons being arrested, and detained, he said.
Source: Polity
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