Abstract

The essence of the principle of legality is to constrain governmental, legislative and judicial power, and protect citizens from the arbitrary exercise of these powers. This is especially true in the context of the drafting and interpretation of criminal law. Criminal laws in particular must be drafted in a reasonably clear fashion to provide citizens with fair warning of criminal sanction. The courts must also interpret these laws strictly, so that citizens are not punished for conduct that did not fall within the scope of either a common law or statutory crime. This article examines whether certain definitions employed in the Prevention of Organised Crime Act 121 of 1998 do not offend the principle of legality as it employs dubiously wide definitions. Although widening the criminal net for, in particular, criminal gang activities, these definitions arguably do not provide fair warning to citizens to avoid criminal sanction and may also be at risk of overbroad judicial interpretation. The analysis will further take place in light of comparable foreign legislation and decisions.

抽象的

合法性原则的实质是限制政府，立法和司法权力，并保护公民免于任意行使这些权力。在起草和解释刑法方面尤其如此。特别是必须以合理清晰的方式起草刑法，以向公民提供刑事制裁的合理警告。法院还必须严格解释这些法律，以使公民不因不属于普通法或成文法规定的行为而受到惩罚。本文研究了1998年第121号《预防有组织犯罪法》中使用的某些定义是否不违反合法性原则，因为它使用了范围广泛的定义。尽管拓宽了犯罪网络，尤其是犯罪团伙活动的犯罪网络，这些定义可能不会给公民提供合理的警告，以免受到刑事制裁，并且还可能面临过度司法解释的风险。将根据可比的外国立法和决定进一步进行分析。