[16 October 2023] Selected submissions received by Parliament in response to the call for comments on the RICA Amendment Bill 2023.
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[31 August 2023] The Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-related Information Amendment Bill has been published and is under consideration by the National Assembly.
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[9 August 2023] The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has published the explanatory memorandum for draft legislation to amend RICA.
The amendments are for the most part necessitated by requirements stipulated by the Constitutional Court in the Amabhungane judgement. Although an extension is possible, the Court-imposed deadline for the completion of this process is 4 February 2024.
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[25 May 2023] The Minister of Justice and Correctional Services has gazetted a 5-year certificate of exemption for the South African Police Service, allowing the acquisition of mass-surveillance equipment for this period.
Certificate of exemption in terms of section 46(3) of RICA
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[3 June 2019] The hearing of the review application brought by Amabhungane into the constitutionality of certain provisions of the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-related Information Act 70 of 2002 (RICA) is set to commence on 4 June 2019.
A full list of the pleadings filed in the matter is available from this dropbox link.
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[3 March 2019] Amabhungane have filed their heads of argument in their application to review the Constitutionality of certain provisions of RICA. The matter is expected to be heard from 4-6 June 2019.
Amabhungane Heads of Argument (12 February 2019)
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[22 October 2017] We are informed that the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has commenced with a review of certain provisions of the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-related Information Act 51 of 2002, generally known as “RICA”. This thread will track interception, monitoring and related issues and how these impact on electronic communications service providers (ECSPs).
Of initial interest is the notice of motion filed in the Pretoria High Court calling for numerous provisions of RICA to be declared constitutionally invalid.