Litigation Launched on ‘Loitering’

Lawyers for Human Rights along with the Legal Resources Centre and AIDS Law Project have launched litigation in the South Gauteng High Court challenging the constitutionality of the City of Joburg’s by-law on loitering. This follows a raid by police on around 350 people in central Johannesburg in July 2009. Those arrested had been sleeping in the vicinity of the Central Methodist Church and many claimed to have been mistreated by police during the arrest. Migrant groups have frequently raised concerns regarding allegations that some police use the by-law on loitering to extort money from non-nationals.

The litigation names the City of Johannesburg, the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department, the Gauteng Provincial Police Commissioner and a number of Ministers as respondents. The application is seeking that the High Court issues an order declaring the following:

(1) Declaring that the raid on 3 July 2009 and subsequent arrests were conducted unlawfully;
(2) Prohibiting the SAPS and JMPD – jointly responsible for the unlawful arrests – from harassing those living in and around the Church and conducting further unlawful police operations at the Church;
(3) Declaring a City of Johannesburg by-law that criminalises “loitering” on public roads unconstitutional and invalid; and
(4) Compelling government to engage meaningfully with those seeking shelter at the Church and other key stakeholders in order to address the concerns of all.
For more information on the litigation, please click here.
This entry was posted on Monday, November 9th, 2009 and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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One Response to “Litigation Launched on ‘Loitering’”

  1. Ruben Popa on January 28th, 2011 at 7:08 pm

    Super-Duper web site! I’m loving it!! Will arrive again once more – taking you feeds also, Thanks.
    Hello. Terrific career. I did not anticipate this on a Wednesday. This is really a wonderful story. Thanks!

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