Synopsis:
Confirmation proceedings. The Johannesburg High Court declared subsections 1 - 5 of s. 1of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1997 invalid. The legislation dealt with the procedure whereby death sentences imposed before the decision in S v Makwanyane would be converted to an appropriate sentence. The High Court declared the law unconstitutional because it did not give the accused a fair trial in relation to the new sentence. Yacoob J, in a unanimous judgment, found that there was no need to comply with the fair trial rights in the constitution because the people concerned had already had a fair trial. Accordingly the declaration of invalidity was not confirmed. Further the court ordered the respondents to take the necessary steps to replace all the death sentences as soon as possible and to report back to the court before 15 August 2005 with the plan.
