The Constitutional Court will hear argument for leave to appeal a forfeiture order against a residential property.
|||The Constitutional Court will hear argument on Thursday for leave to appeal a forfeiture order against a residential property granted by the Western Cape High Court.
The applicants, a couple with four children, used the property to sell liquor without a licence, in contravention of the Liquor Act. Three of the children are minors.
The couple want the order overturned and argue that the violation is not an offence which triggers the forfeiture provision.
They contend that this provision should be used in limited instances and not as a substitute for ordinary criminal law enforcement procedures.
The couple said forfeiting their house would render them and their children homeless.
The State argues that the property was bought, and staff hired, to sell liquor, despite there being no licence.
The Centre for Child Law was admitted as friend of the court.
It argues that the children's best interests were not taken into account in granting the forfeiture order and that, therefore, their rights were breached.
It submits that the minor children deserve separate consideration and that the court should appoint a curator to represent their interests before it decides the merits of the matter.
The couple, received several verbal and written police warnings and their property was subject to searches and seizures. They were also arrested and fined,
The State obtained a preservation order in respect of the property, but this did not stop the couple from operating.
In January 2007, the high court granted a forfeiture order on the basis that the property was used as an instrument of the offence.
The applicants' appeal to the full Bench of the high court and their subsequent application to the Supreme Court of Appeal were both dismissed. - Sapa