JUSTICE BILLS: KEY INSIGHTS FROM MINISTER AND DEPUTY MINISTER

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JUSTICE BILLS: KEY INSIGHTS FROM MINISTER AND DEPUTY MINISTER

• 11 August 2026
• Justice & Constitutional Development
• SA Legal Academy

Justice & Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi and Deputy Minister Andries Nel have together issued several statements providing valuable insights into legislation originating from their department.

The Minister’s statement focused on three draft Bills recently approved by Cabinet for public consultation, along with one approved for tabling in Parliament:

• the draft Legal Practice Amendment Bill (on which SA Legal Academy has already reported)
• the draft Regulation of Trusts Bill (on which SA Legal Academy has already reported)
• the draft General (Mining) Laws Amendment Bill (on which SA Legal Academy has already reported), and
• the Conspiracy, Instigation & Incitement to Commit Offence Bill (which has yet to be tabled).

The Deputy Minister’s statements have drawn attention to the policy implications of three Bills now before Parliament:

• the South African Judicial Education Institute Amendment Bill (on which SA Legal Academy has already reported)
• the Judicial Matters Amendment Bill, and
• the International Co-operation in Criminal Matters Bill.

According to the Minister, once passed by Parliament, enacted and operationalised the Conspiracy, Instigation & Incitement to Commit Offence Bill will repeal and replace the 1956 Riotous Assemblies Act. This is noting that:

• several sections of the Act have already been repealed, and that
• a November 2020 Constitutional Court ruling struck down the Act’s sub-section 18(2)(b) (inciting, instigating, commanding, or procuring any other person to commit a common law or statutory offence).

Against that backdrop, among other things the Minister noted that the soon-to-be-tabled Bill seeks to:

• define a ‘serious offence’
• provide for a period of imprisonment exceeding six months on conviction of such an offence, and to
• make offences of:
  • ‘conspiring with another person to commit an offence’ and
  • ‘instigating and inciting another person to commit a serious offence’.

Regarding the Judicial Matters Amendment Bill, in a statement delivered during a National Assembly Justice & Constitutional Development Committee briefing the Deputy Minister made the following observations:

• the Bill’s development ‘demonstrates that the rule of law is not static … (but) requires continuous maintenance, careful refinement and responsible legislative stewardship’, and that
• the changes envisaged seek to:
  • strengthen judicial accountability and transparency (by way of amendments to the 1994 Judicial Service Commission Act)
  • ‘improve access to information’, ‘simplify administrative arrangements’ and give effect to the May 2023 Constitutional Court ruling on access to tax records in the public interest (by way of amendments to the 2000 Promotion of Access to Information Act)
  • strengthen ‘the fight against corruption’ (by closing ‘technical gaps’ in the 2004 Prevention & Combating of Corrupt Activities Act to ensure that ‘appropriate penalties apply to the offence of failing to prevent corruption within private entities and state-owned companies’)
  • promote ‘a more humane and developmental child justice system’ (by way of amendments to the 2008 Child Justice Act with the aim of ensuring that ‘children who are alleged to have committed cannabis-related offences are dealt with through the child justice framework’)
  • ‘modernise aspects of the legal profession, remove unnecessary barriers and improve access to legal services’ (by way of amendments to the 2014 Legal Practice Act), and to
  • modernise South Africa’s ‘legislative response to cybercrime’ (by way of amendments to the 2020 Cybercrimes Act with the aim of clarifying investigative powers and improving the legal framework governing cybercrime investigations ‘while preserving appropriate safeguards’).

Briefing the same committee on the International Co-operation in Criminal Matters Bill, among other things the Deputy Minister said that it seeks to:

• ‘strengthen the capacity of … (South Africa’s) criminal justice system to ensure that justice is not defeated by geography’
• reaffirm ‘the fight against impunity’ as ‘an important principle of South African foreign policy and constitutional democracy’
• ensure that South Africa has ‘an effective domestic legal framework through which … (to) discharge its international obligations’ while ‘preserving constitutional accountability’, and to
• ‘improve efficiency, reduce unnecessary costs and delays, and enable more effective co-operation in complex transnational investigations’ by facilitating ‘evidence by audio-visual link’ (in keeping with provisions in the amended 1977 Criminal Procedure Act).

Regarding proposed amendments to the Legal Practice Act, these should not be confused with proposals in a draft Legal Practice Amendment Bill on which SA Legal Academy has already reported. According to the Deputy Minister, the Judicial Matters Amendment Bill seeks to:

• provide for ‘the automatic right of appearance for legal practitioners in all courts’
• rationalise provisions in the principal Act ‘relating to practical vocational training’
• expand ‘opportunities for legal practice within public institutions’, and to
• improve ‘the functioning of Legal Aid South Africa and other public legal services’.

In Nel’s view, by supporting ‘transformation within the legal profession’ and promoting ‘greater access to justice for ordinary South Africans’ these amendments ‘reflect an important constitutional principle: ‘our legal profession should be organised around competence, equality and service to the public, rather than historical distinctions that no longer serve the needs of a modern constitutional democracy’.

• Minister’s statement
• November 2020 Constitutional Court ruling
• SA Legal Academy report on draft Legal Practice Amendment Bill
• SA Legal Academy report on draft Regulation of Trusts Bill and draft General (Mining) Laws Amendment Bill
• Deputy Minister’s statement on Judicial Matters Amendment Bill
• Bill
• May 2023 Constitutional Court ruling
• Deputy Minister’s statement on International Co-operation in Criminal Matters Bill
• Bill
• SA Legal Academy report on Judicial Education Institute Amendment Bill

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

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