SCA wants oral arguments on 'spy tapes' appeal
The SCA wants to hear oral arguments on why it should grant leave to appeal in the ‘spy tapes’ case, says a BDlive report. President Jacob Zuma is asking the court to overturn a Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) judgment that found the decision in 2009 to drop corruption charges against him was irrational. Legalbrief notes the decision is seen as something of a reprieve for Zuma, whose legal team will now appear before its judges to argue why they should entertain the appeal.
It will certainly mean the case, which has already dragged on for seven years, will be carried into at least 2017, and possibly beyond if, as seems inevitable, it eventually ends up in the Constitutional Court. The SCA’s order said that the parties should be prepared to argue ‘the merits’ on why the High Court judgment was wrong or right when it refused leave to appeal on the ground that there were no reasonable prospects that it would be successful.
The DA welcomed what it termed the SCA’s ‘unusual decision’. The party was confident the SCA would deny Zuma leave to appeal once it had heard oral arguments, DA leader Mmusi Maimane said, according to a News24 report. ‘It would be in the interests of justice for President Zuma and the NPA to drop their spurious appeals, accept the judgment of the High Court, and face the corruption charges that he has tried to avoid for so long.’ Zuma’s lawyers have one month to file additional copies of the application for leave to appeal, and three months to file the record of the High Court’s proceedings.
NPA chief Shaun Abrahams told MPs yesterday he was still weighing his options on the spy tapes case after the Constitutional Court refused to hear their application. Abrahams said they were also watching closely developments in Zuma’s appeal to the SCA. The Constitutional Court ruled last week that it was not in the interest of justice to hear the NPA application on the decision of the Gauteng High Court (Pretpria), says a report on the IoL site. Abrahams said he was getting legal advice on the Constitutional Court decision and would make a decision on the matter soon.
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