Acting on behalf of People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP), the Legal Resources Centre has filed written submissions in the Constitutional Court in the matter of Minister of Home Affairs v Rahim and Others, which concerns the detention of foreign nationals in places not designed as immigration detention facilities, such as police holding cells.

PASSOP was admitted as amicus curiae in the matter on 13 November 2015. The matter is set down for hearing on Thursday, 26 November 2015 at 10h00 and the LRC will appear on behalf of PASSOP.

The submissions made on behalf of PASSOP pertain to the international, regional and domestic law related to the detention of foreign nationals and argue that immigration detainees should be separated from general and awaiting trial prison populations (including in police holding cells) to accord with international best practices.

In addition to making submissions on international best practice, PASSOP argues further that there is no punitive purpose to immigration detention and that foreign nationals should be detained only in designated immigration centres or facilities which should impair the incidents of a normal life to the minimum extent possible.

Before the Constitutional Court, the Minister of Home Affairs is challenging the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) which found that the Minister wrongfully detained foreign nationals in places which had not been specifically designated as places of immigration detention in terms of section 34(1) of the Immigration Act.

The respondents, who are foreign nationals who were detained mostly at police holding cells and in prisons in the Eastern Cape, argue that the Minister should have designated places of immigration detention prior to their detention. In failing to do so, the respondent’s claim that their detentions were unlawful and seek damages from the Minister for wrongful conduct.

A copy of PASSOP’s application for admission as amicus curiae can be accessed here and copies of the court papers filed by the principal parties can be accessed here.