Inperkingsbevele

Abstract

Banning orders have been issued since 1951 in terms o f the Internal Security Act 44 of 1950. Currently 109 banning orders are in force. They provide for the infringement of "inter alia” the rights to choose one’s own company, place of work and type of occupation, social contact is either very limited or non-existent. Banning orders have been justified in the light ofthe exciting dangers to the security of the slate, to the upholding of law and order and the threat of Communism. The Rabie Commission into Security Legislation has recommended that the present system bemaintained. In this paper the contents of banning orders are discussed with reference to juridical concepts such as the rule of law, human rights and the principles of natural justice. Banning orders are analyzed in terms of the "imago Dei”-concept and of what the Christian attitude to human rights should be. The exclusion of the common law revisionary powers of the Supreme Court and the absence of independent control are discussed. The recommendations of the Rabie Commission are analyzed and critized. One has to conclude that banning orders form a radical departure from the well-established principle that everyone is deemed innocent until his guilt has been adequately proved in an independent court o f law. This drastic deviation has not been remedied by the proposed Revision Committee whose independence and obligation to apply the rules o f natural justice are not absolute.