Book Review: Hiemstra's Criminal Procedure

• Jurisdiction: South Africa
• Pages: 365-366
• Author: Gerhard Kemp
• Published date: 16 August 2019
• Date: 16 August 2019
• Citation: (2009) 20 Stell LR 365

Hiemstra’s Criminal Procedure by A kruger. LexisNexis Durban 2008.

Loose-leaf. ISBN 978 0 409 03272 7. Price R1437-92

This looseleaf publication is presented as a “ translation and an update of

the sixth edition of the respected and authoritative Hiemstra S uid-Afrikaanse

Strafprosesreg” (see author’s note Service Issue 1). It contains a com mentary

(focusing on the Criminal P rocedure Act 51 of 1977 (“the CPA”)) as well as a

useful table of cases and a subject mat ter index.

Hiemstra is indeed a well-k nown publication in the eld of criminal pro-

cedure. The rst edition appea red in the late 1960s (and therefore b efore the

entry into force of the CPA). The second edition appeared ver y shortly after

the entr y into force of the relevant statute and was mildly criticised, mainly

because it did not refer to cases decided in ter ms of the (new) CPA (see Van

der Merwe “Suid-Afrikaanse St rafproses deur VG Hiem stra” 1981 TSAR

291). The subsequent e ditions rectied this wit h characteristic thorough ness.

The original aut hor of this work, VG Hiemstra , was commended for not only

providing the South A frican legal profession with a n indispensible work of

reference, but also for his unique style and contribution to and use of Afrikaan s

as a language of legal practice ( Van der Merwe 1981 TSAR 291-292).

There is no doubt that Hiemstra contributed greatly to the establishment

of a syst ematic approach to the study and application of the CPA. However,

the sometime s long lapses between editions caused the work to become less

useful from a practical point of view – a fact that was implicitly acknowledged

by the aut hors who took over f rom VG Hiemstra. I n the preface to the sixth

edition (2002), co-authored by Johann Kriegler and Albert Kr uger, an English

translation of Hiemstra in looseleaf for mat was envisaged as a means to keep

the publication up to date with legal developments. The rst Service Issue of

the looseleaf format (by Alber t Kruger) was published in April 2008.

The basic approach is still that of a commenta ry on the CPA. The structu re

of the book is therefore in formed by the st ructure of the statute. T he division

of chapters follows the thematic parts of the CPA. However, the reality is that

the CPA is not a codication of crimin al justice rules and norms under Sout h

African law. For i nstance, Chapter 1 of the book (Prosecuting Authority) is

not on ly a c ommentary o n the CPA, but also on the relevant provisions of

the National Prosecuting Author ity Act 32 of 1998. The approach of using

the struct ure of the CPA as the basis for the comment ary, with other relevant

legislative frameworks as sup plementary or complement ary to this struct ure,

works fairly well. It preserves the logic and keeps to the dynamics of the South

African crim inal process. It does not lose sight of the many new developments

that affect matter s like search and seizure, for i nstance. Regardi ng the lat-

ter, the author considered, apart from the CPA, at least eleven other relevant

pieces of legislation that provide for powers of search and seizu re.

Despite the proliferation of legislative measures in t he broad eld of crimi-

nal justice (at least since the days when VG Hiemstra could more or less keep

his focus on the CPA), the approach taken by Kruger for pur poses of this

loose-leaf publication is still in the terse and to-the-point tradition of Hiemstra

(and later Kriegler). This approach is, generally speaking, conducive to a clear

REVIEWS / RESENSIES 365

(2009) 20 Stell LR 365

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