LazyLion
King of de Jungle
The Constitutional Court will hear an application on Thursday to declare portions of section four of the Customs and Excise Act unconstitutional.
Officials of the SA Revenue Service (Sars) conducted a search at importer and distributor of bulk frozen food, Orion Cold Storage (OCS) premises in Muizenberg on May 30 and 31, 2012 in terms of section four of the act.
In terms of section four of the act, Sars officials are not required to obtain a warrant prior to the search being conducted.
An application was launched by OCS in the Western Cape High Court on July 2, 2012 to declare parts of section four unconstitutional to the extent that they permit "targeted non-routine searches without judicial warrant".
As well as declaring the searches "unlawful by virtue of the way in which they were conducted" and said Sars should return everything taken or copied.
The high court held that portions of section four were inconsistent with the constitutional right to privacy and declared them invalid.
This declaration was ordered not to be retrospective and was suspended for a period of 18 months in order to allow the Legislature to make remedial changes.
To create a lacuna in the legislative scheme in the interim, the High Court read certain provisions into the Act.
In the Constitutional Court application, all the parties agree that section four was inconsistent with the Constitution and should be declared invalid.
However, the parties disagree on the extent of the invalidity and on how the reading-in should be formulated in the interim while the Legislature is remedying the defect.
The OBC argue that the section is "overboard" in that it allows for a non-routine or targeted searches by Sars without judicial warrant.
Sars argue that in the light of the extensive control it exercises over premises registered or licensed in terms of the Act, there can be no reasonable expectation of privacy in relation to those premises or business records.
Sars also argue that the construction of the section by the High Court is overly constraining, impractical and confusing.
The matter is scheduled to start at 10am.
Source : Sapa /dm/ks
Date : 12 Sep 2013 02:01
Officials of the SA Revenue Service (Sars) conducted a search at importer and distributor of bulk frozen food, Orion Cold Storage (OCS) premises in Muizenberg on May 30 and 31, 2012 in terms of section four of the act.
In terms of section four of the act, Sars officials are not required to obtain a warrant prior to the search being conducted.
An application was launched by OCS in the Western Cape High Court on July 2, 2012 to declare parts of section four unconstitutional to the extent that they permit "targeted non-routine searches without judicial warrant".
As well as declaring the searches "unlawful by virtue of the way in which they were conducted" and said Sars should return everything taken or copied.
The high court held that portions of section four were inconsistent with the constitutional right to privacy and declared them invalid.
This declaration was ordered not to be retrospective and was suspended for a period of 18 months in order to allow the Legislature to make remedial changes.
To create a lacuna in the legislative scheme in the interim, the High Court read certain provisions into the Act.
In the Constitutional Court application, all the parties agree that section four was inconsistent with the Constitution and should be declared invalid.
However, the parties disagree on the extent of the invalidity and on how the reading-in should be formulated in the interim while the Legislature is remedying the defect.
The OBC argue that the section is "overboard" in that it allows for a non-routine or targeted searches by Sars without judicial warrant.
Sars argue that in the light of the extensive control it exercises over premises registered or licensed in terms of the Act, there can be no reasonable expectation of privacy in relation to those premises or business records.
Sars also argue that the construction of the section by the High Court is overly constraining, impractical and confusing.
The matter is scheduled to start at 10am.
Source : Sapa /dm/ks
Date : 12 Sep 2013 02:01