The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development Reports as follows;

The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development Reports as follows;

1.Having considered the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Bill[B19-

2002], the Committee is of the view that certain offences may overlap and the

Committee is concerned that an accused person may be charged and convicted of

committing different offences arising from the same facts and circumstances. The

Committee therefore considered including the following provision in the Bill;

"Accused person may not be charged on same facts and circumstances

21A. Nothing in this Chapter contained shall be construed as allowing a person to be convicted of committing different offences arising from the same facts and circumstances; Provided that, if by reason of any uncertainty as to the facts which can be proved or if for any other reason it is doubtful which of several offences is constituted by the facts which can be proved, the accused may be charged with the commission of all or any of such offences, and any number of such chances may be tried at once, or the accused may be charged in the alternative with the commission of any number of such offences.

2. However, the Committee is of the view that the above provision may be superfluous, in view O{ amongst others, the following provisions;

(a) Section 35(3)(m) of the Constitution provides that every accused person has a right to a fair trial, which includes the right not to be tried for an offence in respect of an act or omission for which that person has previously been either acquitted or convicted.

(b) Section 336 of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977(Act No. 51 of l977~ provides that where an act or omission constitutes an offence under two or more statutory provisions or is an offence against a statutory provision and the common law, the person guilty of such act or omission shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be liable to be prosecuted and punished under either statutory provision or, as the case may be, under the statutory provision or the common law, "but shall not be liable to more than one punishment for the act or omission constituting the offence".

provide that when an accused pleads to a charge he may, among others, plead that he has already been convicted of the offence with which he is charged(par (c)), or that he has already been acquitted of the offence with which he is charged (par (d)).

3. In spite of the above provisions, the Committee did not have time to thoroughly research and discuss the matter. The Committee therefore recommends that the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development be requested to investigate the matter and to report back to the Committee within three months of the date of this Report.