De Beer v The State

The appellants were charged with murder and related offences allegedly committed on 11 April 2004 at Boschkop farm. The farm was situated in Gauteng Province, just outside the magisterial district of Mankwe in the North-West Province, but within four kilometres of its boundary. Although the offences fell within the territorial jurisdiction of the Pretoria High Court, the appellants were indicted in the Mafikeng High Court. The National Director of Public Prosecutions refused to authorise a transfer of the trial to Mafikeng under s 111 of the Criminal Procedure Act. Despite an objection by the appellants that the Mafikeng High Court lacked territorial jurisdiction, that court held it had jurisdiction because the offences were committed within four kilometres of the magisterial district boundary.

The appeal was upheld. The plea that the Mafikeng High Court lacked jurisdiction was upheld, and the proceedings were adjourned in terms of s 110(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act to the Pretoria High Court.

The case authoritatively clarifies that High Court criminal jurisdiction in South Africa is strictly territorial and cannot be extended by analogy with magistrates’ courts’ extra-territorial jurisdiction. It affirms the constitutional and statutory basis of High Court jurisdiction and confirms that only the NDPP may authorise transfers between High Courts in the interests of justice.