This publication, released in 2011, is an update to the earlier version published in 2008. It provides an up to date guide to the implementation of the UN Convention against Torture and Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) which South Africa ratified in December 1998. As a guide to the UNCAT it is aimed at civil society organisations, human rights activists and officials working with people deprived of their liberty. The guide is divided in six chapters as follows: The absolute prohibition of torture in international law; Framing the problem of torture in a South African context; The UNCAT and South Africa’s obligations; The Committee against Torture and South Africa; Recent case law; Domestic and international stakeholders in preventing and combating torture.
This report reviews the use and expungement of criminal records in South Africa and was prompted by a recent amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act which created, for the first time, a mechanism for certain criminal convictions to be expunged. The situation of criminal records and their expungement is, however, not a simple one and the creation of additional registers (Sex Offender Register, Child Protection Register and Diversion Register) have added another dimension to the issue. The overall impression from the legal framework is that different pieces of legislation use different yardsticks in respect of expungements. It is furthermore a general conclusion that the scope of the mechanism created in the Criminal Procedure is extremely narrow and that very few former offenders would in fact benefit from it. The creation of this mechanism also saw the private sector creating a profit opportunity with some companies charging amounts as high as R7 500 for handling the expungement application, a procedure that should cost no more than R100. The report concludes by recommending that the retention and expungement of criminal records should be selective, purposeful and based on knowledge.
This research report provides an overview of the necessary research to develop possible solutions for limiting the amount of time remand detainees spend in custody. The report discusses, firstly, the bail provisions in the Criminal Procedure Act with regard to the right to liberty and in the broader constitutional notion of proportionality. Second, case law from regional and international bodies dealing with pre-trial release is explored, and third, detention time limits and automatic bail review proceedings are discussed. Fourth, the conceptual distinction between fair trial rights and liberty interests and the South African courts’ treatment of “undue delay” cases is described. The report concludes with the recommendation that a constitutional challenge, based on the Criminal Procedure Act’s failure to adequately protect the accused’s right to liberty, be brought on behalf of South Africa’s remand detainees. Such a challenge would be based on the right to liberty and argue that without custody time limits and a regular, automatic review of bail decisions, the law in relation to bail, as it currently stands, is unconstitutional.
This is the statement that the Community Law Centre (predecessor of the Dullah Omar Institute) and the Article 5 Initiative, a project of which CSPRI was part, made a the 50th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, which was held from 24 October until 5 November 2011.
The submission deals with two bills, being the Independent Police Investigative Directorate Bill and the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service Bill. The first places the emphasis on the absolute prohibition of torture and argues for the inclusion of the crime of torture into the bill and strengthening the investigative powers of the proposed Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) as well as its independence. In respect of the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service Bill attention is paid to establishing a detention visiting mechanism to enhance transparency in line with OPCAT.
This submission discusses the South African Implementation of the Geneva Conventions Bill 10 of 2011, which aimed at domesticating the Geneva Conventions into South Africa's domestic legal framework. The Implementation of the Geneva Conventions Act was adopted in 2012 (Act 8 of 2012).
This submission addresses the Department of Correctional Services’ responses to the comments made by stakeholders on the Correctional Matters Amendment Bill during the public hearings of 25 January 2011.
Victimisation surveys have the potential to deepen our understanding of crime in South Africa. Using the example of a survey conducted in Galeshewe, this article considers the challenges facing analysts in analysing victimisation surveys and suggests ways to increase the information that can be mined from local and national victimisation surveys.
This is the statement that the Community Law Centre (predecessor of the Dullah Omar Institute) made a the 47th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, which was held from 12 to 26 May 2010. The submission addresses the issue of pre-trial detention in Africa.
This submission focuses on five aspects of the budget vote: the budget in relation to other budgets; meeting the minimum standards of humane detention; the performance indicators; high prison construction costs; and social reintegration.
In March 2005 the Department of Correctional Services released the White Paper on Corrections in South Africa which articulated a new 20-year vision for the correctional system. This vision articulates an antithesis of what was inherited from the previous regime. But it does raise serious questions about its attainability. Nearly five years into the implementation of the White Paper, results in respect of rehabilitation services to prisoners remain modest. The lack of budgetary alignment to the vision of the White Paper has also been remarked upon by Parliament. In many regards, conditions of detention fail to meet the minimum standards set out in the Constitution and the Correctional Services Act. This roundtable discussion focussed on a critical examination of the White Paper as a policy document and also on progress towards realising the objectives of the White Paper. Some may argue that the White Paper has made a valuable contribution by providing the Department with a new purpose and paradigm, whilst others state that meeting the minimum standards of humane detention is a pre-requisite for large scale rehabilitation services. Did the ambitious vision of the White Paper set the Department up for failure?
This roundtable discussion, hosted by CSPRI, is the first in a series of three, and included representatives from Parliament, the Judicial Inspectorate for Prisons, SAHRC, media and civil society organisations. The discussions focused on the different oversight mandates, successes achieved in exercising oversight as well as the problems faced. Strategic priorities in prison oversight were identified by the participants.
Guide to UN Convention Against Torture in South Africa
