Shrien Dewani 'to be extradited to South Africa on 7 April'

Yes, our system is waiting for him.. But he is a sly bounder as he has already organized himself a nice single room.

If he is convicted he will surely not have that luxury and will have to share a prison dorm with 20-40 other nice fellows convicted of rape, murder, armed robbery etc.

And he is such a pretty boy...
 
And pretty boy has arrived. It seems we have 18 months to get him fit for trial and if we don't he goes back to the UK as a free man.

So he will try and fake it for 18 months and we will have to foot the bill. Nice.
 
Surprises me. Why should anybody be mentally and/or physically fit to stand trial? His health is not at trial but his action(s) are. It may be a factor in the verdict itself, but not in the trial. At least (as far as I know) this is how it works in the Netherlands. And, if memory serves me correct, I think in South Africa they still use the Roman law system which was brought in by the Dutch colonists in the 17th and 18th century.
But perhaps to a lesser extent for criminal law.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
If the accused was mentally ill at the time when the offense was committed and as a result of the illness he was unable to distinguish between right and wrong then the court will find that he cannot be held criminally liable/responsible.

The above does not seem to in issue here.

I don't know what Devani's strategy is going to be but it seems as if he is going to say that he is not mentally and physically well enough to stand trial in South Africa. If you are mentally ill and cannot understand the legal proceedings brought against you the trial will not proceed.

And yes the basis of our law is Roman Dutch (Romeins Hollandse Reg). However a lot of our procedural law is of English origin.
 
daisy said:
If the accused was mentally ill at the time when the offense was committed and as a result of the illness he was unable to distinguish between right and wrong then the court will find that he cannot be held criminally liable/responsible.
Click to expand...

Yes, but I would think that only during trial it can be determined if he committed the crime when/if he was able/unable to distinguish between right and wrong.
Hope you can read Dutch sufficiently. Here's an article about someone who was convicted very recently despite the fact that he is a bit mentally challenged:
http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2014/04/09/twintig-jaar-cel-voor-brandstichting-woning-cuijk/


daisy said:
If you are mentally ill and cannot understand the legal proceedings brought against you the trial will not proceed.
Click to expand...

Well, that's where you've got a lawyer for. He understands the legal proceedings and acts on behalf of the accused.

daisy said:
And yes the basis of our law is Roman Dutch (Romeins Hollandse Reg). However a lot of our procedural law is of English origin.
Click to expand...

Decades ago I studied for a year Law and one of the subjects is History of Law and I remembered as much.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi Bert, yes I read Dutch without any issues and enjoy reading it.

The dutch article clearly states that the accused was found to be "verminderd toerekeningsvatbaar" which translates as "diminished responsibility". So despite the accused having diminished responsibility he was found to be liable and sentenced. This is not uncommon.

If you cannot understand the legal proceedings brought against you there cannot be a trial. What happens then is that the court proceedings are stopped and an administrative procedure takes place whereby the accused is declared to be mentally ill and then such a person (if he/she is a danger to society) is locked away in a mental institution for the rest of his/her life.

In our system the issue of mental illness is normally dealt with before the trial starts.

South Africa might be struggling with many things but luckily our legal system is still working to a degree.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom