ID’S PATRICIA DE LILLE WANTS PRESIDENT’S POWERS TO PARDON REMOVED FROM CONSTITUTION
31 JANUARY 2010-ID President Patricia de Lille on Friday submitted a Private Member’s Bill [below] to Parliament that would remove the power of the President of the Republic of South Africa to grant pardons.
ID President Patricia de Lille on Friday submitted a Private Member’s
Bill [below] to Parliament that would remove the power of the President
of the Republic of South Africa to grant pardons.
‘It is proposed that a constitutional amendment should be enacted, removing the power of the President of the Republic of South Africa to grant pardons. The relevant clause, namely section 84(2)(j) of the Constitution, which states that the President is responsible for pardoning or reprieving offenders and remitting any fines, penalties or forfeitures, must be removed in its entirety,’ reads section a of the “memorandum of legislative proposal”, called the ‘particulars of the proposed legislation.
‘The constitutional provision granting the President the power to pardon individuals is an anachronistic provision that has its roots in the British monarchic dispensation in which the king or queen was invested with supreme power to pardon individuals,’ Ms De Lille writes in section b of the “memorandum of legislative proposal”.
‘This provision is incongruent with the values of a modern democratic state in which the principles of the rule of law and the separation of powers are entrenched.
‘This provision also goes against those principles in that it grants an individual, namely the President, the power to override a legal decision that has been taken by another arm of the government,’ De Lille continues.
‘The proposed constitutional amendment will firmly entrench the underlying values of our Constitution and remove a vestige of our colonial past that does not fit in with the values of the modern state that we are trying to build in South Africa.’
For media enquiries, please call Steven Otter, spokesperson for Patricia de Lille, on 084 233 3811
Memorandum on Legislative Proposal in respect of Presidential Pardons
Private Member’s Bill
Submitted in terms of section 73(2) of the Constitution
29 January 2010
Mrs P de Lille, MP
Independent Democrats
29 January 2010
The Speaker
P O Box 15
CAPE TOWN 8000
Dear Mr Speaker
In order to obtain the permission of the Assembly to introduce a private member’s bill, I hereby submit in terms of Rule 234(1) a memorandum for your consideration which sets out the following:
a) The particulars of the proposed legislation;
b) the objects of the proposed legislation; and
c) whether the proposed legislation will have financial implications for the state and, if so, whether those implications may be a determining factor when the proposed legislation is considered.
I would like to request that this legislative proposal be dealt with in terms of Rule 235 of the National Assembly Rules.
Yours faithfully
Mrs P de Lille, MP
29 January 2010
MEMORANDUM ON LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL
A. Particulars of the proposed legislation
It is proposed that a constitutional amendment should be enacted, removing the power of the President of the Republic of South Africa to grant pardons. The relevant clause, namely section 84(2)(j) of the Constitution which states that the President is responsible for pardoning or reprieving offenders and remitting any fines, penalties or forfeitures, must be removed in its entirety.
B. Objects of the proposed legislation
The constitutional provision granting the President the power to pardon individuals is an anachronistic provision that has its roots in the British monarchic dispensation in which the king or queen was invested with supreme power to pardon individuals. This provision is incongruent with the values of a modern democratic state in which the principles of the rule of law and the separation of powers are entrenched. This provision also goes against those principles in that it grants an individual, namely the President, the power to override a legal decision that has been taken by another arm of the government.
The proposed constitutional amendment will firmly entrench the underlying values of our Constitution and remove a vestige of our colonial past that does not fit in with the values of the modern state that we are trying to build in South Africa.
C. Financial implications
No financial implications stemming from this proposed constitutional amendment are foreseen.
ENDS...
‘It is proposed that a constitutional amendment should be enacted, removing the power of the President of the Republic of South Africa to grant pardons. The relevant clause, namely section 84(2)(j) of the Constitution, which states that the President is responsible for pardoning or reprieving offenders and remitting any fines, penalties or forfeitures, must be removed in its entirety,’ reads section a of the “memorandum of legislative proposal”, called the ‘particulars of the proposed legislation.
‘The constitutional provision granting the President the power to pardon individuals is an anachronistic provision that has its roots in the British monarchic dispensation in which the king or queen was invested with supreme power to pardon individuals,’ Ms De Lille writes in section b of the “memorandum of legislative proposal”.
‘This provision is incongruent with the values of a modern democratic state in which the principles of the rule of law and the separation of powers are entrenched.
‘This provision also goes against those principles in that it grants an individual, namely the President, the power to override a legal decision that has been taken by another arm of the government,’ De Lille continues.
‘The proposed constitutional amendment will firmly entrench the underlying values of our Constitution and remove a vestige of our colonial past that does not fit in with the values of the modern state that we are trying to build in South Africa.’
For media enquiries, please call Steven Otter, spokesperson for Patricia de Lille, on 084 233 3811
Memorandum on Legislative Proposal in respect of Presidential Pardons
Private Member’s Bill
Submitted in terms of section 73(2) of the Constitution
29 January 2010
Mrs P de Lille, MP
Independent Democrats
29 January 2010
The Speaker
P O Box 15
CAPE TOWN 8000
Dear Mr Speaker
In order to obtain the permission of the Assembly to introduce a private member’s bill, I hereby submit in terms of Rule 234(1) a memorandum for your consideration which sets out the following:
a) The particulars of the proposed legislation;
b) the objects of the proposed legislation; and
c) whether the proposed legislation will have financial implications for the state and, if so, whether those implications may be a determining factor when the proposed legislation is considered.
I would like to request that this legislative proposal be dealt with in terms of Rule 235 of the National Assembly Rules.
Yours faithfully
Mrs P de Lille, MP
29 January 2010
MEMORANDUM ON LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL
A. Particulars of the proposed legislation
It is proposed that a constitutional amendment should be enacted, removing the power of the President of the Republic of South Africa to grant pardons. The relevant clause, namely section 84(2)(j) of the Constitution which states that the President is responsible for pardoning or reprieving offenders and remitting any fines, penalties or forfeitures, must be removed in its entirety.
B. Objects of the proposed legislation
The constitutional provision granting the President the power to pardon individuals is an anachronistic provision that has its roots in the British monarchic dispensation in which the king or queen was invested with supreme power to pardon individuals. This provision is incongruent with the values of a modern democratic state in which the principles of the rule of law and the separation of powers are entrenched. This provision also goes against those principles in that it grants an individual, namely the President, the power to override a legal decision that has been taken by another arm of the government.
The proposed constitutional amendment will firmly entrench the underlying values of our Constitution and remove a vestige of our colonial past that does not fit in with the values of the modern state that we are trying to build in South Africa.
C. Financial implications
No financial implications stemming from this proposed constitutional amendment are foreseen.
ENDS...
