S v Basson (404/02, 293/02)
S v Basson (404/02, 293/02) [2003] ZASCA 72; [2003] 3 All SA 51 (SCA); 2004 (1) SA 246 (SCA); 2003 (2) SACR 373 (SCA) (3 June 2003)
The Supreme Court of Appeal held that the State failed to comply with the procedural requirements for reserving questions of law and condonation. The majority of the State's proposed questions were either academic, related to factual findings rather than legal errors, or were unsupported by the record. The only legal remedy available to the State after an acquittal is to reserve a question of law under section 319, but only where there is a reasonable prospect that a legal error, not a factual error, affected the outcome. The trial judge's refusal to recuse himself was based on the correct le…
Source excerpt
- Reservation Of Questions Of Law
- Recusal Of Judge
- Appeal Rights Of State
- Condonation
- Admissibility Of Evidence
- Suspicion Of Bias