In South Africa, a person suspected and/or accused of having committed any crime, no matter how negligible or disgraceful is presumed innocent until such time that he is proven guilty by means of a secured conviction.

Central to this legal principle, is another constitutionally guaranteed provision that, even when someone is accused with a crime or suspect, they must be brought to court timeously, by less evasive means, depending on circumstances. An arrest is a drastic measure and infringes on the dignity and liberty of the person arrested. Even the South African Police Services have a standing order Directive all police, when discharging their duties to regard arrest and detention as a last resort.

Be that as it may, what happens when you or someone you know is arrested: how can you lawfully secure your freedom? The Law as encompassed in the Constitution and given substance by the Criminal Procedure Act provides for various means. Common means include: police bail, prosecutorial bail and criminal summons. They are used to secure one’s liberty pending a criminal matter. Depending on the office one is accused or suspected of having committed, they can engage the aforementioned methods to secure that speedy liberty, at times, they may also never set foot in custody.

However, for some crimes, the Law mandates that, any person accused or suspected of having committed such offence to appear before a Magistrates Court before 28 hours of being arrested and detained, and only such Court can grant bail. What are such offences that can make you sleep in prison and how can you mitigate your situation?

When a person is accused or suspected of having committed serious crimes mentioned in Schedule 5 and 6 of the Criminal Procedure Act, they will most surely spend some time in police custody and detained in prison.

Such crimes include, to mention a few:

SCHEDULE 5

Drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape or sexual assault, attempted murder, serious assault causing grievous bodily harm, financial crimes such as theft, extortion, exchange of currency and illegal mining

SCHEDULE 6

These are similar offences to those mentioned under schedule 5, however they are more serious depending on the circumstances that are alleged or were actually committed under.

What is assured in as far as these crimes are concerned is that, they can result with you spending some time in detention. It has been said that, even convicted persons never admitted to having. Committed a crime, it is always a matter of accusation that they committed it. Simply, most people would never dream of committing crime intentionally, however, and unfortunately, some do get accused, even falsely. It can happen to anyone at any time.

Under those circumstances, what can a person do to mitigate the effect of committing or being accused of such crimes:

Is there anything that one can do, or should they accept that, no matter what, they'll have to spend some time in custody? The cardinal advise would be to lawyer up. Ensure that you have an ever-ready legal Practitioner to advance your interests in a time of arrest. Such legal Practitioner can mitigate the time you spend arrested and detained. They may, circumstantially even help you to evade detention or spending time in prison. One may say that securing services of a lawyer is not necessary because they are not involved in criminal activities. Practice indicates that one can never say never, even a simple incident can lead into a big allegation or false accusation, it is advisable that you should have a lawyer on standby. There are economic options to secure services of a legal Practitioner, for such time when they are most needed. Feel welcome to approach an experienced lawyer to consider how to secure their services in case of a need.

References considered:

Criminal procedure Act, as amended

SAPS Standing order/ circular: Instructions Relating to Arrest and Detention of Suspects. 2019