KVV Inc
  • About Us
    • Meet The Team
      • Staff Photos
    • KVV Masters
    • Blog
  • Registration Process
    • I Am a Buyer
    • I Am a Seller
    • I Am An Agent
  • KVV Training Centre
  • KVV TV
  • KVV Cares
  • Contact Us
  • +27 87 351 2022

Month: August 2017

Home / About Us Backup / 2017 / August
August 15, 2017
Uncategorized

Sexual Offences: No More Time Limit to Prosecute

“There are some crimes that do not go away” (quoted in the judgment below)“There are some crimes that do not go away” (quoted in the judgment below)

 

Victims of sexual abuse are often so deeply traumatised and intimidated that they either never report the crimes, or take decades to go to the police.

And that, until now, has been a major source of injustice in our legal system, because section 18 of our Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) provides that the right to prosecute crimes lapses after 20 years except for a specified list of serious offences – murder, treason, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, child stealing, rape/”compelled rape”, genocide/war crimes, people trafficking, and pornography involving children or mentally disabled people.

The end result has been that many desperate and vulnerable survivors of abuse have been deprived of their right to seek justice.  Fortunately that has now changed.  A recent High Court judgment involving accusations of sexual crimes over 28 years ago has had the result that, subject only to confirmation by the Constitutional Court, sexual offences can now be prosecuted at any time.

 

Allegations of habitual child sex abuse; and the law

  • Eight male and female applicants, who at the time of the alleged offences were children between the ages of 6 and 15 years, accused the man in question of having habitually “indecently and/or sexually assaulted”  them in the 70s and 80s.
  • In terms of the CPA, the offences had prescribed by the time that, between June 2012 and June 2015, the applicants had acquired “full appreciation of the criminal acts committed by the [man]”, and they then opened a criminal case and instituted a civil claim against him.
  • The Director of Public Prosecutions declined to prosecute the cases (being barred by the CPA from doing so) and the applicants asked the High Court for help.
  • Having analysed in depth both the legal position and the many deep-seated causes of “delayed disclosure” by victims, the Court held that “section 18 is arbitrary and irrational and accordingly is inconsistent with the Constitution and invalid, in relation to not only children, but to all victims, including adults” in respect of “the right to institute a prosecution for all sexual offences”.
  • Although the declaration of invalidity was suspended for 18 months “in order to allow Parliament to remedy the constitutional defect”, the Court ordered that in the interim, i.e. with immediate effect, the 20 year time limit falls away for “all other sexual offences, whether in terms of common law or statute”.

The civil case against the accused’s deceased estate (he died shortly before the hearing) will now no doubt also proceed, with another Court having previously held in respect of civil prescription “that a victim of child or sexual abuse who acquired an appreciation of the criminal act during adulthood is able to sue the abuser within three years of gaining that appreciation”.

© LawDotNews

Continue Reading
Share
August 15, 2017
Uncategorized

SARS and the Special Voluntary Disclosure Programme: It’s Deadline Time!

“The SVDP is meant for individuals and companies who have not in the past disclosed tax and exchange control defaults in relation to offshore assets” (SARS)“The SVDP is meant for individuals and companies who have not in the past disclosed tax and exchange control defaults in relation to offshore assets” (SARS)

 

If you aren’t sure whether or not you should apply for the Special Voluntary Disclosure Programme (SVDP), take advice immediately –

  • The deadline is 31 August 2017, and you will need time to prepare properly.
  • By the end of next month, SARS will have in place an automatic exchange of tax information with the revenue authorities of over 50 other countries (100 by September 2018) under the OECD’s “Common Reporting Standard”.

© LawDotNews

Continue Reading
Share
August 15, 2017
Uncategorized

Verbal Agreements – The Property Perspective

“A verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on” (Samuel Goldwyn)“A verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on” (Samuel Goldwyn)

A recent High Court judgment is yet another reminder of how essential it is to comply with all necessary formalities when entering into any sort of agreement, particularly when dealing with the sale of property.


A fight over eviction and a property transfer attack

  1. A property was transferred to a buyer in terms of a sale agreement in 2015.
  2. The occupants of the property refused to vacate, and when the new owner applied for their eviction, they alleged that in 2007 they had verbally agreed with the original owners that, upon finalisation of several specified issues, they would enter into a formal agreement of sale to purchase the property.
  3. They therefore asked not only for the eviction application to be dismissed, but also for the 2015 sale and transfer to the new owner to be set aside in order to transfer the property to their own nominated family trust.

What the Court said

  • Any such verbal contract would, held the Court, be an “agreement to agree” which in our law certainly can be valid and binding, but generally only if it complies with all the formal and other requirements for validity applying to the “main” contract that they have agreed to enter into.
  • The occupants’ problem was that a verbal agreement for the sale of immovable property cannot be valid, because this is one of the few classes of agreement which our law requires to be (a) in writing and (b) signed by both seller and buyer “or by their agents acting on their written authority”.
  • The occupants were accordingly given 15 days to leave the property, and the original sale and transfer remain in place.

 

Three things to bear in mind

  1. Remember that in our law you will usually be bound by what you agree to verbally; property sales are one of only a few specific exceptions to that principle.But as a general rule verbal contracts are best avoided.  They are a recipe for misunderstanding and dispute because people tend to hear only what they want to hear, and to then convince themselves that their memory is better than yours.  Worse, a dishonest opponent will have more wriggle room to get out of your agreement.  Rather have everything recorded in black and white, and signed.
  2. Also tread carefully around “agree to agree” scenarios.  Our case law is full of costly disputes over “letter of intent” and “let’s agree now to enter into a full contract later” cases.
  3. In particular, if you are about to embark on any form of property transaction, the lesson is, as always, to seek legal help before you agree to anything.  There’s usually a lot at stake when property’s involved, and many pitfalls for the unwary.

© LawDotNews

Continue Reading
Share
Recent Posts
  • A Note from our Director
  • Building a Home in 2021: The Dangers of Not Being NHBRC Compliant
  • Life Partners – You Need a Will and a Cohabitation Agreement!
  • Don’t Fall Victim to a Ponzi Scheme in 2021!
  • Your Website of the Month: Starting a Business in 2021
Contact Info

Ground Floor, Block D, Jigsaw Park 7 Einstein Road Highveld Techno Park, Centurion
Phone: +27 87 351 2022
Fax: (012) 655-1053

Get Directions
Archive
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
Categories
  • Bank And Financial
  • Business
  • Corporate
  • Criminal Law
  • Debt
  • Delict and Civil Claims
  • Delit / Civil Claims
  • Employment and Labour Law
  • Employment Law
  • Family Law
  • General Interest
  • Insolvency
  • KVV News
  • Litigation
  • News
  • Property
  • Property Law
  • Road Traffic
  • Tax
  • Trusts
  • Uncategorized
  • Wills and Estates
Pages
  • About Us
  • Blog
  • Blog Archive
  • Blog Classic
  • Contact Us
  • Cost Calculator
  • How We Work
  • I Am a Buyer
  • I Am a Seller
  • I Am An Agent
  • KVV Inc – Your Property Partner
  • KVV TV
  • Master Lounge
  • Meat the Team
  • Meet The Team
  • Registration Process
  • Shortcodes
  • Staff Photos
  • Testimonials
  • Training Centre

Designed by eMSDigital Group © 2019. All Rights Reserved

  • About Us
  • Registration Process
  • KVV Training Centre
  • KVV TV
  • KVV Cares
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
    • Meet The Team
      • Staff Photos
    • KVV Masters
    • Blog
  • Registration Process
    • I Am a Buyer
    • I Am a Seller
    • I Am An Agent
  • KVV Training Centre
  • KVV TV
  • KVV Cares
  • Contact Us