Kruger v National Director of Public Prosecutions

The applicant, Mr Arrie Willem Kruger, was arrested on 6 October 2009 and appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court. He was detained for seven days and released on 13 October 2009 when all criminal charges against him were withdrawn. He later discovered, upon obtaining the police docket in August 2012, that the investigating officer had regarded the matter as civil in nature and had recommended that bail not be opposed. Kruger instituted an action against the National Director of Public Prosecutions for wrongful and malicious prosecution, alleging that the prosecutor acted maliciously in opposing bail and pursuing the prosecution. The summons was served on 31 January 2013. The NDPP raised a special plea of prescription, contending that the claim prescribed three years after 13 October 2009. The High Court upheld the plea, and leave to appeal was refused by both the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Condonation was granted, but leave to appeal was dismissed with costs.

The case clarifies the Constitutional Court’s approach to jurisdiction in prescription matters, distinguishing between cases that raise constitutional or legal questions and those that involve purely factual determinations. It limits the automatic assumption that all prescription disputes fall within the Court’s constitutional jurisdiction.