Police Ministry studying court judgment on Scorpions

Compiled by the Government Communication and Information System
Date: 17 Mar 2011
Title: Police Ministry studying court judgment on Scorpions
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Pretoria - The Police Ministry has noted today's Constitutional Court judgment, which found that part of the national legislation that created the Hawks and disbanded the Scorpions, is constitutionally invalid.

"The official position of the ministry is that we will study the judgement in its entirety, particularly as the judgement specifically referred to Chapter 6A of the South African Police Service Act," the ministry said.

The majority of the court found that Chapter 6A of the SAPS ACT 68 of 1(c) 95, as amended, was inconsistent with the Constitution and invalid to the extent that it failed to secure an adequate degree of independence for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations, also know as the Hawks.

The Constitutional Court has suspended the findings for 18 months to allow government to rectify the legislation.

The ministry said it would adhere to this timeline. - BuaNews