_________
PORTFOLIO
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS
TO
CRIMINAL
LAW (SENTENCING)
AMENDMENT
BILL
[B
15─2007]
___________
(As agreed
to by the Portfolio Committee on Justice and
Constitutional
Development (National Assembly))
___________
[B 15A─2007]
AMENDMENTS
AGREED TO
______
CRIMINAL
LAW (SENTENCING) AMENDMENT BILL
[B
15─2007]
______
LONG TITLE
1. On page 2, in the ninth line of the
long title, after "Schedule 2;" to insert:
to
amend Schedule 2 in order to further regulate the offences in respect of which discretionary minimum sentences are
prescribed;
2. On page 2, in the fifteenth line of the
long title, after "first instance;" to insert:
to
amend the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, 1998, so as to effect a
consequential amendment;
CLAUSE 1
1. On page 3, from line 27 to line 30, to
omit the proviso and to substitute:
Provided that the maximum [sentence] term of imprisonment
that a regional court may impose in
terms of this subsection shall not [be
more than five years longer than] exceed the minimum [sentence]
term of imprisonment that it [may]
must impose in terms of this subsection by more than five years.
2. On page 3, in line 35, after
"sentence" to insert:
:
Provided that if a regional court imposes such a lesser sentence in
respect of an offence referred to
Part 1 of Schedule 2, it shall have jurisdiction to impose a term of imprisonment
for a period not exceeding 30
years
3. On page 3, from line 39 to line 42, to
omit subparagraphs (i) to (iii) and to substitute:
(i)
The
complainant's previous sexual history;
(ii)
an
apparent lack of physical injury to the complainant;
(iii) an accused person’s
cultural or religious beliefs about rape;
or
(iv) any
relationship between the accused person and the complainant prior to the
offence being committed.
4. On
page 3, in line 50, after "of a" to insert "minimum".
5. On
page 3, from line 53 to line 55, to omit subsection (b) and to substitute:
(b) Not
more than half of a minimum sentence imposed in terms of subsection (2) may be
suspended as contemplated in section 297(4) of the Criminal Procedure Act,
1977, if the accused person was 16 years of age or older, but under the age of
18 years, at the time of the commission of the offence in question.
.
6. On
page 3, in line 57, to omit "a [child]"
and to substitute " [a child] an
accused".
7. On
page 3, in line 57, to omit "of─" and to substitute
"of".
8. On page
3, in line 58, to omit "(a)".
9. On
page 3, in line 60, to omit "(2)(a)
or (b); or" and to substitute "(2).".
10. On
page 3, from line 61 to line 62, to omit paragraph (b).
11. On
page 4, in line 1, to omit "a [child]"
and to substitute "[a child] an
accused".
12. On
page 4, in line 2, to omit "the [child]"
and to substitute "[the child] that".
NEW
CLAUSES
1. That the following be New Clauses:
Insertion of section 53A in Act 105
of 1997
4. The
following section is inserted in the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1997:
"Transitional provision
53A. If a regional court has, prior to the date of the
commencement of the Criminal Law (Sentencing) Amendment
Act, 2007–
(a) committed an accused for sentence by a High Court
under this Act, the High Court must dispose
of the matter as if the Criminal Law (Sentencing) Amendment Act, 2007, had not been passed; or
(b) not
committed an accused for sentence by a High Court under this Act, then the
regional court must dispose of the matter in terms of
this Act, as amended by the Criminal Law (Sentencing)
Amendment Act, 2007.".
Amendment of Schedule 2 to Act 105 of 1997, as
amended by section 37 of act 62 of 2000 and section 27(1) of Act 33 of 2004
5. Schedule
2 to the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1997, is amended─
(a) by
the addition in Part I after paragraph (d)
of the paragraphs setting out the categories of "murder", of the following paragraphs:
"(e) the victim was killed in order to unlawfully remove any body
part of the victim, or as a result of such
unlawful removal of a body part of the victim;
(f) the death of the victim resulted from, or is directly
related to, any offence contemplated in section 1(a) to (e) of the Witchcraft Suppression Act, 1957 (Act
No. 3 of 1957)."; and
(b) by the
substitution for Part IV of the following Part:
"PART IV
Any [offence referred to in Schedule
1 to the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act 51 of 1977) other than an offence
referred to in Part I, II or III of this Schedule] of the following
offences, if the accused had with him or her at the time a firearm, which
was intended for use as such, in the commission of such offence:
Treason;
Sedition;
Public violence;
Robbery, other than a
robbery referred to in Part I or II of this Schedule;
Kidnapping;
An offence involving an assault,
when a dangerous wound is inflicted with a firearm, other than an offence
referred to in Part I, II or III this Schedule;
Breaking or entering any
premises, whether under the common law or a statutory provision, with intent to
commit an offence;
Escaping from lawful
custody.".
CLAUSE 4
1. On page 4, in line 41, to omit "life
imprisonment" and to substitute "imprisonment for life".
CLAUSE 5
1. On page 5, from line 4 to line 10, to omit
subsections (3) and (4) and to substitute:
"(3) The prosecution policy must determine
the circumstances under which prosecutions shall be instituted in the High
Court as a court of first instance in respect of offences referred to in
Schedule 2 to the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1997 (Act No. 105 of 1997).
(4) The National Director must issue
policy directives pursuant to the policy contemplated in subsection (3),
regarding the institution of prosecutions in respect of offences referred to in
Schedule 2 to the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1997.
(5) The prosecution policy and the policy
directives contemplated in subsections (3) and
(4) above, must be issued within three months of the date of the commencement
of the Criminal Law
(Sentencing) Amendment Act, 2007.".
CLAUSE 6
1. Clause rejected.
NEW CLAUSE
1. That the following be a New Clause:
Amendment of section 3 of Act 121 of 1998
9. Section 3 of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act,
1998, is amended—
(a) by the deletion of subsection
(2)(ii); and
(b) by the deletion of subsection (3).
CLAUSE 7
1. On page 5, in line 22, after
"operation on" to insert "31 December 2007 or an earlier".