Minimum sentencing to stay – and be tightened

Business Day reports SA’s minimum sentencing regime is to be extended for another two years, a Cabinet committee has decided – and Parliament is being asked to make a special effort to sanction the decision before the law lapses on May 1. Minimum sentencing is a contentious issue in legal circles with many claiming that it interferes with the judiciary’s right to decide on sentences. It has also been blamed for the increased overcrowding in prisons. Crimes that hold minimum sentences include a mandatory life sentence for murder with aggravating circumstances, gang rape or rape of a minor. Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla said yesterday that minimum sentencing legislation lapsed unless renewed every two years. These provisions were last renewed on May 1 2005. Full Business Day report

The new draft Bill will make significant inroads into the discretion of a judge when sentencing rapists, according to Mabandla. A report in The Mercury says the Minister was unapologetic yesterday, saying some judges ‘have found ways of going around’ the minimum sentencing law and the loopholes needed to be closed. The draft Bill, which would go to Cabinet next week for approval, included what judicial officers could no longer regard as ‘substantial and compelling circumstances’ to impose a lower sentence than the minimum required by law, Justice official Deon Rudman said. Mabandla’s announcement will be a blow to a range of judges, lawyers and academics who have been pushing for the minimum sentencing law to be repealed. These include KwaZulu-Natal Judge President Vuka Tshabalala, his deputy Phillip Levinsohn, and the former Inspecting Judge of Prisons, Johannes Fagan. Full report in The Mercury (subscription needed)