JUDICIAL MATTERS AMENDMENT BILL

Issued by: Parliament of the Republic of South Africa

18 July 2001

Press statement issued by Adv. Johnny de Lange, MP and Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Justice & Constitutional Development.

The Judicial Matters Amendment Bill has been introduced in Parliament and is referred to the portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development for consideration.

The bill aims:

• to amend the Administration Amendment Act, 1929, so as to further regulate jurisdiction of the Divorce Courts;
• to amend the South African Law Commission Act, 1973, so as to bring the appointment of a member of the judiciary as chairperson of the South African Law Commission into line with the court structure as provided for in the Constitution;
• to amend the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977, so as to further regulate the referral of an accused in order to inquire into his or her capacity to understand criminal proceedings or regarding the criminal responsibility of an accused concerning the offenwith which he or she is charged;
• to amend the Rules Board for Courts of Law Act, 1985, so as to bring the designation of a member of the judiciary as chairperson or vice-chairperson of the Rules Board for Courts of Law into line with the court structure as provided for in the Constiton;
• to amend the General Law Third Amendment Act, 1993, so as to repeal an obsolete provision; to amend the General Law Fourth Amendment Act 1993, so as to repeal obsolete provisions;
• to amend the General Law Sixth Amendment Act, 1993, so as to repeal an obsolete provision; to amend the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1997, in order to regulate the period of operation of sections 52A and 52B;
• to amend the National Prosecuting Authority Act, 1998, in order to regulate certain executive functions of the Minister, to amend the Maintenance Act, 1998, so as to provide that any maintenance or related order may be enforced by a maintenance court er than the court where such order was made;
• to amend the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000, so as to effect certain textual corrections; to amend the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 20001, so as to effect a textual correction; and to provide for matters connected therewith.

If any person or organisation would like to make written representations on the Judicial Matters Amendment Bill he or she should do so by no later than 13 August 2001. Anyone who would like to give further oral evidence to the Committee in regard to his or her written submissions should notify the Committee by no later than 13 August 2001.

If the need should arise public hearings will provisionally be scheduled to take place during the third term of parliament in 2001.

The Committee requests all persons and institutions that wish to send submissions to make 30 copies available to the Committee, if possible.

It should be pointed out that the Committee reserves the right to decide:

• Whether or not to hold public hearings on the Bill
• Whether or not to give individuals or representatives of organisations the opportunity to appear before it, and
• The date, time, venue, duration and form of the hearing.

All correspondence in this regard should be addressed to:

The Secretary to Parliament
PO Box 15
Cape Town
8000

All correspondence should be marked for the attention of Collette Herzenberg or Zodwa Zenzile (fax 021-462 2142). Copies of the Bill may, upon availability, be obtained from Ms Herzenberg and Ms Zenzile.

Issued by Adv Johnny de Lange, MP

Contact

Zodwa Zenzile (izenzile@parliament.gov.za)
Tel: 021-403 3660
Collette Herzenberg (cherzenberg@parliament.gov.za)
Tel: 021-403 3669