ConCourt strikes down key procedural provision of Extradition Act

The Constitutional Court has struck down a key procedural provision of the Extradition Act.

It found that part of the law infringes both on the right to freedom and the right to bail.

The provision had directed magistrates to imprison a suspect while the minister of justice considered an extradition request.

The inconsistency came to light in the case of alleged paedophile Iain Wares, after the State unsuccessfully appealed his bail extension in 2020.

The apex court has declared part of Section 10 of the Extradition Act is unconstitutional.

The challenge first arose in the Western Cape High Court in 2020, when the State sought to overturn the bail extension granted to Wares, who was wanted in the United Kingdom (UK) for allegedly committed sexual crimes in Scotland.

Under the law, magistrates are compelled to imprison suspects awaiting their extradition status by the minister of justice, but the magistrate overseeing Wares’s case at the time extended his release on bail.

The Western Cape High Court dismissed the State’s challenge, whichsought to reverse the decision to extend his bail.

And in its judgment handed down on Tuesday, the Constitutional Court agreed, stating that the Section 10 of the act violated the right to not have one's freedom restricted without a just cause and also violated the right to bail.

The court further held that the provision allowed no scope for judicial discretion.