The Constitutional Court has ruled the Aarto Act should remain in place, overturning the Pretoria high court judgment that the act was invalid and unconstitutional.
The ConCourt was to validate the high court ruling but chief justice Raymond Zondo ruled in favour of the minister of transport, who was the respondent in the matter.
This means the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act will not be scrapped, as parliament had the competence to pass it, Zondo said.
“In a unanimous judgment written by me, the Constitutional Court has upheld the contentions advanced by the minister of transport, the Road Traffic Infringement Agency [RTIA] and the Road Traffic Management Corporation [RTMC] that the subject matter of the Aarto Act falls within the functional area described as 'road traffic regulation' ... which is within the concurrent legislative competence of parliament and the provincial legislatures.
“This court has concluded in this judgment that parliament had the competence to pass the Aarto Act,” he said.
This means the legislation — intended to penalise traffic violations, legalise fines by e-mail and introduce a demerit system that would strip repeat offenders of their licences — will go ahead as planned.
ConCourt rules Aarto Act is valid and not unconstitutional
Constitutional Court rules in favour of minister of transport, says Aarto Act is constitutionally valid
Image: Thapelo Morebudi
The Constitutional Court has ruled the Aarto Act should remain in place, overturning the Pretoria high court judgment that the act was invalid and unconstitutional.
The ConCourt was to validate the high court ruling but chief justice Raymond Zondo ruled in favour of the minister of transport, who was the respondent in the matter.
This means the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act will not be scrapped, as parliament had the competence to pass it, Zondo said.
“In a unanimous judgment written by me, the Constitutional Court has upheld the contentions advanced by the minister of transport, the Road Traffic Infringement Agency [RTIA] and the Road Traffic Management Corporation [RTMC] that the subject matter of the Aarto Act falls within the functional area described as 'road traffic regulation' ... which is within the concurrent legislative competence of parliament and the provincial legislatures.
“This court has concluded in this judgment that parliament had the competence to pass the Aarto Act,” he said.
This means the legislation — intended to penalise traffic violations, legalise fines by e-mail and introduce a demerit system that would strip repeat offenders of their licences — will go ahead as planned.
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The ConCourt judgment comes after the Pretoria high court ruled in favour of the civil group Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) which brought the matter for the judiciary to have the legislation thrown out.
Outa’s main contention was the Aarto Act was more concerned about making money than road safety and was against the constitution.
Outa believes the act infringes on the rights of drivers and owners of vehicles as it deems fines “delivered” if sent by post or e-mailed. In addition, 50% of the fines and admin fee will go to the RTIA, resulting in municipalities losing half the revenue generated by fines.
They argued that instead of traffic regulations being governed nationally, they should vest with provincial and municipal authorities as the act would overrule some municipal bylaws.
The RTMC defended Aarto, saying the act is fundamentally concerned with road traffic regulations and should fall under national legislation.
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