Parliament welcomes Western Cape High Court's judgment on Transport Laws and Related Matters Amendment Act

Western Cape High Court's judgment vindicates Parliament as application to declare Transport Laws and Related Matters Amendment Act invalid is dismissed

Parliament welcomes today’s decision by the Western Cape High Court to dismiss the Democratic Alliance’s application which sought to obtain a declaration of invalidity of the Transport Laws and Related Matters Amendment Act based on the tagging of the Bill.

The Speaker of the National Assembly (NA), Mr Max Sisulu, and Chairperson of National Council of Provinces (NCOP), Mr Mninwa Mahlangu, who are members of Parliament’s Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) are cited as corespondents as the Democratic Alliance contended that the bill, which was signed into law last year, had not been tagged correctly.

Tagging is a function of the Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM), comprising the Presiding Officers and their deputies, and determines the category of a bill and thus how it is processed through Parliament. The JTM has to decide whether or not enactment of bills should fall within concurrent national and provincial legislative competence or whether legislative authority vests exclusively with Parliament and thus regulated only by national legislation.

The judgment is a vindication for the Parliamentary process which was followed in the enactment of the Act and the role of the JTM in exercising its constitutional function.

Today’s dismissal of the application was the fifth occasion on which the courts affirmed Parliament’s compliance with the Constitution in the exercise of its functions.

In the earlier instances where similar challenges were dismissed, the Presiding Officers urged political parties and Members of Parliament to use the review of the rules process to provide for resolution of grievances or oversights instead of running to the courts. This is in keeping with the separation of powers and the standing of Parliament in society.

The courts, themselves, have in several judgments warned against Members running to court as this places the judiciary at risk of being politicised.

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