Legal Aid must pay - Concourt

Legal Aid’s last recourse to challenge the law regarding the ruling that compelled them to fund Marikana miners has failed.

|||

Johannesburg - Legal Aid’s last recourse to challenge the law regarding the ruling that compelled them to fund the injured and arrested Marikana miners has failed.

This was after the Constitutional Court on Tuesday dismissed the appeal that sought to challenge some of the aspects of the ruling by the high court saying it must fund the legal representation of those miners at the Marikana Commission of Inquiry.

The Concourt on Tuesday dismissed Legal Aid’s application for leave to appeal, finding that the matter was moot because an appeal of the high court’s decision would have no practical effect on any of the parties.

The case started during the commission when the miners’ funds from private donors ran out. They approached Legal Aid for funding. However, Legal Aid claimed that due to financial constraints and the fact that they were representing the families of the deceased miners, they were unable to.

The miners took the matter to the high court and won. In granting the application, the high court found that Legal Aid’s refusal to fund the miners was irrational and constitutionally invalid as it violated the miners’ right to equality before the law, protection from unfair discrimination and their right of access to a fair public hearing.

Legal Aid agreed to provide the funding but took the high court judgment to the Supreme Court of Appeal. That court dismissed the appeal on the basis that the decision would have no practical effect because the parties’ position would remain unaltered by the outcome of an appeal as the funding had been advanced and Legal Aid had agreed not to claim a refund in the event the appeal was in its favour.

Legal Aid then headed to the Concourt, where it claimed the high court had laid down incorrect principles of law that would negatively affect its work and limit the ambit of its chief executive’s discretion. It argued after the high court decision that the legislative scheme governing Legal Aid’s funding decisions had changed and the current guidelines made specific provision for funding legal representation at commissions of inquiry in certain instances.

The Star