S v Makwanyane
| S v Makwanyane | |
|---|---|
| Court | Constitutional Court of South Africa |
| Full case name | State v Makwanyane and Another |
| Decided | 6 June 1995 |
| Citations | [1995] ZACC 3, 1995 (3) SA 391 (CC), 1995 (6) BCLR 665 (CC), [1996] 2 CHRLD 164, 1995 (2) SACR 1 (CC) |
| Case history | |
| Prior action | Referral from Appellate Division [1994] ZASCA 76 |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | Chaskalson P, Ackermann, Didcott, Kriegler, Langa, Madala, Mahomed, Mokgoro, O'Regan & Sachs JJ, Kentridge AJ |
| Case opinions | |
| The death penalty is inconsistent with the Interim Constitution; the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act, or any other law, sanctioning capital punishment are invalid. | |
| Decision by | Chaskalson (all judges wrote concurring opinions) |
| Keywords | |
| capital punishment, human rights, constitutional law | |
S v Makwanyane and Another (CCT 3/94) was a landmark 1995 judgment of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. It established that capital punishment was inconsistent with the commitment to human rights expressed in the Interim Constitution. The court's ruling invalidated section 277(1)(a) of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977, which had provided for use of the death penalty, along with any similar provisions in any other law in force in South Africa. The court also forbade the government from carrying out the death sentence on any prisoners awaiting execution, ruling that they should remain in prison until new sentences were imposed. Delivered on 6 June, this was the newly established court's "first politically important and publicly controversial holding."