Plea Bargaining could alleviate overcrowding in
prisons

Steve Swart MP - ACDP

Tuesday, 11 September 2001

African Christian Democratic Party MP and spokesperson on Justice, Steve
Swart has welcomed the proposed amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act
to allow for "plea bargaining" and sentence agreements.

Mr Swart said, "In view of the huge backlog in court cases, mechanisms
must be found to finalise criminal cases more quickly. The huge
overcrowding in prisons is largely attributable to outstanding criminal
cases, with a large number of prisoners awaiting trial. Plea bargaining
will, I trust, reduce the outstanding criminal court cases, and
consequently the number of awaiting trial prisoners."

Mr Swart further welcomed the insertion of a provision affording the
victim the opportunity to make representations to the prosecutor
regarding the contents of the agreement and the inclusion of an order of
compensation. "The inclusion of victims in the process is important, as
victims of crime have in the past been excluded from the criminal
justice process." Said Mr Swart.

This approach would be in line with that of Restorative Justice promoted
by Mr Swart. In terms of the restorative justice model, the offender
accepts blame for the offence (i.e. by agreeing to plead guilty) and
thereafter agrees to pay compensation to the victim.

Mr Swart said that any such plea bargaining agreement would be subject
to the courts scrutiny and approval. Should the court not be satisfied
that justice has been done, the court may overrule the agreement.


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For more information please call Steve Swart MP at 083 2856290 or ACDP
Media Liaison Liza Lambert at 082 4781037