Magister Legum - LLM / Members of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) are required to be dedicated to
the rule of law. Yet, recent and past decision-making has caused instability in the
functioning of the NPA. The decision to prosecute or not to prosecute involves the
exercise of discretion. The NPAs use of this discretion has been called into question
on numerous occasions which has resulted in the erosion of its independence and
credibility. There are constitutional and legislative provisions in place to guide
prosecutors in the decision-making process which allows for a measure of
accountability. However, the link between prosecutorial independence and
accountability for decision-making is not clear when looking at recent and past
decisions by the National Directors of Public Prosecutions. Therefore, an evaluation
of the instability in the office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions during
the period of 1998-2018 will be discussed. The research discusses the unwarranted
intrusion on prosecutorial decision-making. Furthermore, external interfering has
resulted in the loss of public confidence in the functioning of the NPA. The
administrative duties of prosecutors are guided by constitutional and legislative
procedures. Hence, the research will identify whether these procedures are efficient
for the effective administration of the NPA. Key to the already mentioned will be
providing recommendations on how to create stability in an institution that has been
surrounded by instability for the past 20 years.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uwc/oai:etd.uwc.ac.za:11394/7351 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Creators | Williams, Juan-Pierre |
| Contributors | Mezmur, Benyam Dawit |
| Publisher | University of the Western Cape |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | University of the Western Cape |
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