The rule of law, prosecutorial independence and accountability in a nascent constitutional democracy

Abstract

This study probes the topical issue of prosecutorial independence in post 1994 South Africa in order to begin to determine how the new democratic constitutional dispensation has and should have affected the independence of our prosecutors. It also explores, albeit introductorily, the intersection of prosecutorial and judicial independence by suggesting that the much vaunted judicial independence in South Africa can prove mythical if prosecutorial independence is not vigorously and unflinchingly championed. The study also looks into what role accountability plays both as a pro and a con for prosecutorial independence within the parameters of the rule of law. Furthermore a comparative analysis of some fellow Commonwealth of Nations jurisprudences is embarked upon with a view to see what lessons can be learned and which prosecutorial approach tutorials are worth bunking. With a critical approach which is historical, contemporary and contextual, the study goes on to marry South African legal instruments, prosecutorial policies and other relevant literary insights to contemporary intersections ,interactions and frictions between law and politics in South Africa. The study seeks to begin to suggest a rule of law based but reasonably accountable prosecutorial approach for this country.