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INDEPENDENT POLICE INVESTIGATIVE DIRECTORATE: AMENDMENT BILL UPDATE
- 09 November 2023
- Parliament
- SA Legal Academy
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) Amendment Bill will not be revised to include OPCAT preventive mechanism monitoring obligations in the directorate’s mandate. This is according to a National Assembly Police Committee media statement on the outcome of discussions apparently informed by stakeholder input during recent hearings on the Bill.
OPCAT stands for the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture & Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. While the convention has been in place since 1984, the optional protocol only came into force in 2006. South Africa is party to both.
The OPCAT’s objective is to monitor the treatment of people ‘deprived of their liberty’ by establishing ‘a system of regular visits undertaken by independent international and national bodies’ to places where such people are held.
Parliamentary Monitoring Group records on the committee’s IPID Amendment Bill deliberations refer to calls for the inclusion of provisions that would have made implementing OPCAT implementation the IPID’s responsibility.
However, having requested and considered an opinion on the matter from Parliament’s Constitutional & Legal Services Office, the committee agreed that ‘OPCAT obligations’ should be the focus of a dedicated piece of legislation. In the committee’s view, this should be developed in liaison with all national departments and institutions affected by OPCAT obligations.
Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch