Premium content from before 2023 is now available for everyone!
  1. Committees
  2. National Assembly
  3. Justice and Correctional Services
  4. Tabled Reports

ATC231101: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services on the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill [B 19 - 2020] (National Assembly – Sec 75), Dated 1 November 2023

Justice and Correctional Services

 

Report of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services on the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill [B 19 - 2020] (National Assembly – Sec 75), Dated 1 November 2023

 

The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services (“the Committee”), having considered the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill [B 19 - 2020] (National Assembly – section 75), referred to it and classified by the Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) as a section 75 Bill, presents the Bill [B 19B – 2020].

 

The Committee reports further, as follows:

 

1. In Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development and Others v Prince 2018 (6) SA 393 (CC) (“Prince judgment”), the Constitutional Court declared the following legislative provisions unconstitutional, as they amount to an impermissible limitation of the right to privacy:

 

1.1. Section 4(b) (possession) and section 5(b) (dealing on the basis of cultivation) of the Drugs and Drugs Trafficking Act 140 of 1992 (the Drugs Act), read with Part III of Schedule 2 of that Act; and

 

1.2. section 22A(9)(a)(i) of the Medicines and Related Substances Control Act, read with Schedule 7 of Government Notice No. R 509 of 2003.

 

2. The Court suspended the order of invalidity for 24 months for Parliament to correct the constitutional defects by 17 September 2020. The Court provided a reading-in provision that ensures that an adult will not be guilty of a criminal offence if they use, possess, or cultivate cannabis for their personal consumption in private, which continues to apply.

3. On 1 September 2020, the Bill was introduced and referred to the Committee for consideration and report.

4. The Bill was introduced with the intent to address only the Prince judgment, which broadly focussed on considerations relating to the right of privacy as far as the use of cannabis by adults for private purpose.

5. Due to the complexity of the subject matter, the Committee has facilitated extensive public consultation processes and deliberations with numerous stakeholders.

6. The Bill as tabled and deliberated on by the Committee up until its meeting of 12 September 2023 did not look beyond the adult-centred focus of the private purpose use of cannabis. However, the Committee was called upon by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to consider extending the scope of the Bill to also accommodate considerations relating to the best interest of the child, as the processing of children within the criminal justice system in relation to cannabis offences was found unconstitutional in Centre for Child Law v Director of Public Prosecutions, Johannesburg and Others [2022] ZACC 35 (Centre for Child Law judgment):       

 

6.1 On 29 September 2022, the Constitutional Court, in Centre for Child Law judgment, confirmed the order of the High Court, which declared section 4(b) of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act 140 of 1992 to be inconsistent with the Constitution and invalid to the extent that it criminalises the use and/or possession of cannabis by a child.

6.2 The Constitutional Court suspended the operation of the order of constitutional invalidity for a period of 24 months for Parliament to finalise the legislative reform process. The date by which the defect must be corrected by Parliament is 28 September 2024.
 

7. Previous deliberations and public submissions called for by the Committee on the Bill were to the Prince judgment context and considerations only. To accommodate the Centre for Child Law judgment in the Bill, the Committee sought in terms of Rule 286(4)(b) of the National Assembly Rules and received permission from the National Assembly to extend the subject of the Bill to address issues relating to the best interest of the child (in compliance with the Centre for Child Law judgment), in addition to the privacy right protection reflected in the Bill in relation to the private use, possession and cultivation of cannabis by adults in a private space (in compliance with the Prince judgment).

 

8. The Bill, as presented by Committee, proposes to:

  • Respect the right to privacy of an adult person to use or possess cannabis;
  • Regulate the use or possession of cannabis by an adult person;
  • Provide for an alternative manner by which to address the issue of the prohibited use, possession of, or dealing in, cannabis by children, with due regard to the best interest of the child;
  • Prohibit the dealing in cannabis;
  • Provide for the expungement of criminal records of persons convicted of possession or use of cannabis or dealing in cannabis based on a presumption;
  • Amend provisions of certain laws; and
  • Provide for matters connected therewith.

 

9. The Committee notes that the cannabis and hemp sector is one of fourteen priority sectors identified by Government to secure investment, job creation and support for sustainable rural livelihoods. The Committee hopes that the Bill paves the way, as a first step, for the development of legislation to address the regulation of cannabis for commercial purposes.

 

Report to be considered.

Documents

What's wrong with this page?