Discussion papers to review the law of Criminal Procedure open

In the review, attempts are made to cope with systemic challenges in the law, in particular in relation to provisions that deal with arrest, deposit, alternative dispute settlement (ADR) and the victim's participation in the criminal justice process.

On Thursday, the South African Law Reform published at least four discussion papers that dealt with the phase before the experiment:

• Arrest
• Reform of the deposit systems
• Alternative dispute resolution
• Victim Central reforms

When publishing the discussion papers, deputy minister of the judiciary and constitutional development, Andries Nel spoke about the need to change the judicial system.

“We have to change our criminal judicial system, including the law on criminal proceedings, to change more effectively, efficient, integrated, more sacrificed and according to the constitution.

“We have to make sure that through the national dialogue with the greatest participation of practitioners, experts, academics and, above all, people in South Africa create a well -informed, evidence -based dialogue and discussion that gives the greatest participation, cry for your right To be and feel safe.

“[The released documents] are only discussion papers created by the advisory committee and published by the legal reform committee in order to generate public debates and discussions and to request views and inputs, ”said Nel.

The review of the Criminal Procedure Act was initiated in November 2023 by the former Minister of Justice and Justice Minister Ronald Lamola and tried to identify and solve systemic challenges in the law.

An advisory expert committee, which was led by the former judge president of the Mpumalanga judiciary Francis Legodi, was then formulated to advise the legal reform commission for the review.

The Ministry of Justice said that members of the public were encouraged to comment on the discussion documents that are available at https://www.justice.gov.za/salrc/dpapers.htm

“Workshops in the provinces will concentrate on engaging basic communities in order to obtain their views on the proposed recommendations.

“The submissions are examined and considered to refine the final recommendations, which are informed by the experiences of citizens, legal practitioners and academies,” said the department.