Ex parte Christopher Lance Mercer and Beverley Pervan; In re: The Problem Animal Control Ordinance 26 of 1957 and the National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa

The applicants were convicted in the Kuruman Magistrates’ Court in September 2001 for contravening provisions of the Nature and Environmental Conservation Ordinance, 1974, which prohibit the harbouring of certain animals without a permit. They had kept three Northern Cape lynx and were repeatedly refused permits on the basis that these animals were designated as potential problem animals under the Problem Animal Control Ordinance 26 of 1957. The applicants sought to appeal their convictions and sentences in the Northern Cape High Court and simultaneously challenged the constitutionality of the Problem Animal Control Ordinance. Before the High Court could hear the matter, the applicants applied directly to the Constitutional Court for relief.

The application for direct access to the Constitutional Court was refused.

The case affirms the Constitutional Court’s cautious approach to granting direct access and underscores the principle that constitutional issues should, as a general rule, first be considered by lower courts. It reinforces judicial hierarchy and the subsidiarity of constitutional adjudication in South African law.