Report of the Select Committee on Security and Constitutional Affairs on the Criminal Procedure Amendment Bill [B 57B - 2002] (National Assembly - sec 75), dated 7 October 2003:
The Select Committee on Security and Constitutional Affairs, having considered the subject of the Criminal Procedure Amendment Bill [B 57B - 2002] (National Assembly - sec 75), referred to it, reports the Bill with a proposed amendment, as follows:
CLAUSE 8
1. On page 11, in line 52, to omit "1 November 2003 or any earlier date as the President may determine" and to substitute "a date fixed by the President".
The Select Committee further reports as follows:
The amendment being proposed in respect of Clause 8 relates to a matter of some concern to the Select Committee. The Bill was introduced in the National Assembly during the 2002 session of Parliament. The National Assembly amended the commencement clause so as to provide for commencement by not later than 1 November 2003. This has surely created an expectation among those involved in the administration of justice that the provisions of the Bill, which are aimed at addressing a cause of serious and unnecessary delays in the criminal justice system, will commence by not later than 1 November 2003. However, this places the National Council of Provinces under considerable pressure to deal with this legislation, that has been with the National Assembly for approximately one year, within the space of three to four weeks. Also, in the respectful opinion of the Select Committee, it places undue pressure on the President to assent to and sign the Bill before the 1st of November 2003. It should be borne in mind that, under section 79(1) of the Constitution, the President must either assent to and sign the Bill or, if he has reservations about the constitutionality thereof, refer it back to the National Assembly for reconsideration. The Select Committee is therefore respectfully of the opinion that, in the present circumstances, Clause 8 should be amended as proposed by the Select Committee, and that care should in future be taken to avoid situations where the Council and the President are perceived to be unduly pressurised to concur with, or assent to, new legislation.