The Law Review Project (LRP) on Thursday expressed deep concerns about the constitutionality of core aspects of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act and the actions of the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU).
”The Prevention of Organised Crime Act and its implementation subject innocent South Africans, people presumed in terms of our Constitution to be innocent until proven guilty, to arbitrary penalties far in excess of anything that is considered fair and reasonable in our criminal justice system,” the law body said in a statement.
”The law and its interpretation have the effect that suspects can be subjected to double jeopardy in that civil and criminal proceedings can be instituted against them for an alleged single offence.”
The LRP appeared as amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the Constitutional Court in the matter of Kumarnath Mohunram and the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) on Thursday, challenging the fact that the accused had been convicted and fined and that unlicensed slot machines had been forfeited to the state.
According to the LRP, this was in accordance with due process under criminal law.
It is appropriate, according to the LRP, for that to be the end of the matter.
However, the AFU seized the premises at which the accused ran an unlicensed casino.
This, according to the LRP, is unconscionable by virtue of the constitutional principle of the rule of law that nobody should be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment or to double jeopardy.
The law body said: ”They can be punished twice over in that, as in this matter, a convicted person may have the full criminal penalty, including seizure of criminal assets, imposed by a criminal court and then, in addition, the AFU can impose virtually unlimited additional penalties such as confiscating the premises or vehicle in which an offence was committed.
”[The Act] has the effect that massive penalties deceptively not called ‘fines’ can be imposed on people who have never even been charged with an offence,” it said.
The Constitutional Court reserved judgement on Thursday. — Sapa