air and timely access to justice is enshrined in the African Charter, yet many spend years behind bars, their cases in limbo or never brought before a court.
Our country has a recidivism rate of about 90% compared to 6% to 8% for China, an authoritarian regime where mass executions of re-offenders is common
A rhino-poaching suspect, who recently escaped from police custody, has been identified as a criminal who was serving multiple life sentences when he broke out of prison last year
Is the evidence used to convict criminals always based on sufficient facts or data? Leletu Tonisi from the Wits Justice Project examines some of the flaws in the system
The judicial system alone and appealing to miscreants has not stopped attacks on women
The prisons department says it has rehabilitation programmes. Others disagree, including an ex-inmate who says the only way to come right is to want to change
Conviction rates are high, but backlogs are mounting and key crime cases are languishing.
A police officer’s laxity led to a boy shooting his brother but the family still waits for compensation.
A proposed overhaul of South Africa’s justice system will prevent "meddling" with case files, says the high court’s Judge Eberhard Bertelsmann.
There are doubts over plans to replicate the successes of World Cup courts which have seen cases around the tournament swiftly concluded.
Transformation of the judiciary was again high on the agenda of the Judicial Service Commission as it began a marathon sitting in Cape Town on Monday.
The new legal norm is now the spirit of the people as interpreted by certain politicians and not through the Constitution.
The conflation of the ruling party with the government and the state is fuelled by the myth of the party as the liberator of a passive citizenry.
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/ 24 December 2008
As we move into 2009, one prediction can be made with confidence: while the Zuma case continues, turbulent constitutional times are likely.
The government wants to use state resources across all departments to fight crime.
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/ 11 September 2008
When the political will to deal with elite crimes falters, a culture of impunity takes hold.
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/ 11 September 2008
Incompetent prosecution often frustrates the intention of minimum sentencing legislation.
Flaws in SA’s criminal justice system need to be fixed ”yesterday”, Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Johnny de Lange says.