South Africa Case Law

Van Straaten v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others (CCT106/08)

Van Straaten v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others (CCT106/08) [2009] ZACC 2; 2009 (3) SA 457 (CC) ; 2009 (5) BCLR 480 (CC) (24 February 2009)

Court

Constitutional Court

Case number

CCT 106/08

Judges

Langa, Moseneke, Cameron, Mokgoro, Ngcobo, Nkabinde, O'Regan, Sachs, Skweyiya, Van der Westhuizen, Yacoob

The Constitutional Court held that it does not have jurisdiction to consider the constitutional validity of parliamentary bills except in the limited circumstances provided for in sections 79 and 121 of the Constitution. The applicant's confusion between a bill and a constitutional amendment was noted, and the application for direct access under section 167(4)(d) was found to be misplaced. The Court emphasized that jurisdiction must be determined at the time proceedings are instituted, and at that time, the bills in question had not yet become law. Accordingly, the application was dismissed f…

Source excerpt

• Jurisdiction Of Constitutional Court
• Direct Access
• Constitutionality Of Bills
• Parliamentary Process
• Rule Of Law