Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon members, comrades and friends, the Bill amends the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1997, which came into operation on 1 May 1998 in order to further regulate, amongst other things, the imposition of discretionary minimum sentences for certain serious offences listed in Parts I to IV of Schedule 2 to the Act; to give the regional court jurisdiction to convict and sentence a person found guilty of an offence referred to in Part I of Schedule 2 to imprisonment for life; to provide that certain circumstances shall not constitute substantial and compelling circumstances justifying the imposition of a lesser sentence when a sentence must be imposed in respect of the offence of rape; and to repeal all sections dealing with the committal of an accused for the purpose of sentencing by a High Court after conviction in a regional court of an offence referred to in Schedule 2.
The objects of the Bill are, amongst other things, to expedite the finalisation of serious criminal cases, to punish offenders of certain serious offences appropriately and to avoid secondary victimisation of complainants which, amongst other things, occurs when vulnerable witnesses have to repeat their testimony in more than one court.
Secondly, the provision requiring a regional court to refer an accused for sentencing to a High Court is repealed. Regional courts are granted jurisdiction to impose life sentences in cases where this is prescribed. Provision is made for an automatic right of appeal in cases where a person is sentenced by a regional court to life imprisonment. The National Director of Public Prosecutions is required to adopt policy directives that set out which prosecutions must, from the outset, be instituted in the High Court and not in the regional courts.
Most importantly, the Bill contains transitional provisions in terms of which cases already referred to the High Court by a regional court prior to the commencement of the Criminal Law (Sentencing) Amendment Act, must be finalised by the relevant High Court. In those instances in which an accused has not been committed to the High Court for sentencing prior to the commencement of the Criminal Law (Sentencing) Amendment Act, the regional court must dispose of the matter in terms of this Act.
The committee effected amendments to the Bill and consequently the complainant's previous sexual history and any relationship between the accused person and the complainant prior to the offence being committed will constitute substantial and compelling circumstances justifying the imposition of a lesser sentence.
I would like to take you back a bit. The Criminal Law (Sentencing) Amendment Bill, hereinafter referred to as "the Bill," is a section 75 Bill and was referred to the Select Committee on Security and Constitutional Affairs in terms of Rule 208(1) of the Rules of the National Council of Provinces. The select committee dealt with the Bill in terms of Rule 210 of the Rules of the National Council of Provinces and now submits its report to the House in terms of Rule 211 of the Rules of the NCOP.
The Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1997 came into operation in May 1998 and dealt with the abolition of the death penalty and created a legal regime of discretionary minimum sentences in respect of certain serious offences. Sections 51 and 52 ...
Hon member, I'm afraid your time has expired. [Interjections.]
I'd like to thank the Select Committee on Security ...
Debate concluded.
When your time has expired you don't even have time to thank the committee! [Interjections.] [Applause.]
Hon members, you must really adhere to our decisions, because when we agreed that we would handle this debate in a particular manner, a particular time was allocated to it. We need to improve on that Rule, because I'm going to be firm on that.
Bill, subject to proposed amendments, agreed to in accordance with section 75 of the Constitution.