Synopsis:
Application for leave to appeal against an order of the Pretoria High Court which held that that Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the applicant?s challenge to the decision by Cabinet to initiate legislation dissolving the Directorate of Special Operations (Scorpions). The applicant alternatively sought direct access to the Constitutional Court for an order compelling the government to withdraw the relevant legislation. The unanimous judgment dealt only with the question of whether the doctrine of the separation of powers permitted the Court to consider the validity of Cabinet?s decision while the legislative process was still underway. The Court held that in order to justify such an intervention, the applicant would have had to prove that material and irreversible harm had arisen, which he had failed to do. The applications for leave to appeal and for direct access were dismissed.
