Mail & Guardian Reporters
THE Constitutional Court this week cleared a hurdle which barred potential amnesty applicants from confessing their crimes.
The court on Thursday shot down a bid by families of leading apartheid victims to have sections of the National Unity and Reconciliation Act — which robs victims of their right to civil and criminal redress against human rights violators — declared unconstitutional.
The court held that the provisions in the Act honoured the Constitution, which stresses the need for the truth to emerge and for as wide as possible an amnesty to be granted.
Lawyers representing several of those seeking amnesty said earlier their clients were waiting for the judgment before making applications to the truth commission.
The judgment also clears the way for the commission’s amnesty committee to make known its first round of findings.