IOS2601 Assignment 1 Semester 1

IOS2601 Assignment 1 Semester 1 – IOS2601 – Semester 1 - Assignment 1 - 1. Introduction In its Bato Star judgment the Constitutional Court made reference to the interpretive approach followed in Jaga v Donges, a notorious case from the 1950s. In this essay, I argue that the recent comments made by the Constitutional Court about the case clearly show that the Jaga judgment is no longer relevant to the interpretation of statutes after the democratic transformation. 2. The facts of the Jaga case During the 1950s Jaga was caught selling unwrought gold which was considered a crime at the time. He was sentenced to “three months imprisonment suspended for three years”. Section 22 of Act 22 of 1913 stipulated that: “Any person who has been sentenced to imprisonment for any offence committed by the sale of unwrought precious metal and who is deemed by the minister to be an undesirable inhabitant of the Union, may be removed from the Union under a warrant”. Jaga was declared an undesirable inhabitant of the Union by the Minister who also issued a warrant for him to be deported back to India. Jaga challenged his deportation based on what the meaning of the word “imprisonment” was in relation to his specific sentence. He was never held in prison, he had been given a suspended sentence, he didn't spend any time physically imprisoned and therefore the provision of the Act did not apply to him.