Submission on the Criminal Procedure Amendment Bill
Submission: Criminal Procedure Amendment Bill
Forum: Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
Date: 22 April 2020
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Submission Overview: Power Singh Inc., on behalf of Media Monitoring Africa, prepared a submission to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development on the Criminal Procedure Amendment Bill. The Criminal Procedure Amendment Bill was drafted in response to the judgment of the Constitutional Court in Centre for Child Law and Others v Media 24 Limited and Others [2019] ZACC 46. The matter dealt with identity protections in the context media publications for children who are participants in criminal proceedings. The submission focused on four key issues: (i) the need to include publications disseminated via social media platforms; (ii) the import of defining when criminal proceedings begin and when protections start to apply; (iii) when publication is warranted in relation to children who have been kidnapped or abducted; and (iv) the public interest override when a court orders the disclosure of the identity of the child involved in criminal proceedings.
